Provisional agreement on the climate law: at least 55% net reduction by 2030

Negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council agreed on 21 April 2021 the text of the European climate law. It sets a binding target of EU climate neutrality by 2050 and a reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared with 1990. The contribution of CO₂ removals to this target is to be limited to 225 Mt of CO₂ equivalent. The agreement opened the way for the formal adoption of the act and for work on the "Fit for 55" package.

Key agreements

• 2050 target – climate neutrality in the EU as a whole; after 2050 – negative emissions.
• 2030 target – net reduction of at least 55%; limiting the contribution of removals to 225 Mt CO₂e is meant to encourage real emission reductions rather than reliance solely on forests and soils.
• 2040 target – the Commission is to present a proposal after the global stocktake of implementation of the Paris Agreement.
• Scientific board – establishment of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, which is to assess the consistency of measures with the targets.
• Progress assessments – periodic review of the actions of the EU and Member States and the possibility of recommendations.

Significance for biogas and agriculture

Limiting the contribution of removals means that emitting sectors – including agriculture and waste – must make a larger real contribution to reductions. For livestock farms this means growing interest in techniques for reducing emissions of methane and ammonia, including digestion of natural fertilisers. For waste management – continued pressure to limit the landfilling of biodegradable waste and to capture landfill gas.

For renewable gases, what matters above all is that the 55% target requires raising the share of RES in total energy consumption, and thus also in heating and transport. This is space for biogas and biomethane, provided support mechanisms are created.

Poland in the context of the agreement

Poland, like some other countries in the region, pointed out that implementing the target must take into account different starting points and the availability of financing for the transition. The climate law does not decide how the effort is divided between countries – that is a task for subsequent acts, including the review of the Effort Sharing Regulation, which the Commission was to present in July 2021.

What next

The European Parliament and the Council had to formally approve the text, after which the act was to be published in the Official Journal. In parallel, preparations were under way for a legislative package that is to translate the target into specific rules for energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and waste.

Why the limit on removals

A "net" target could be met largely by increasing CO₂ removals in forests and soils, without deep changes in energy, industry and agriculture. The 225 Mt CO₂e limit introduces a safeguard: the contribution of net removals to the 2030 target is capped at this level, so the target cannot be achieved mainly by increasing removals instead of reducing emissions. Countries with extensive forests argued, in turn, that the land use and forestry sector should be taken into account to a fuller extent.