Annexes to COM(2016)479 - Inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry into the 2030 climate and energy framework

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dossier COM(2016)479 - Inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry into the 2030 climate and ...
document COM(2016)479 EN
date May 30, 2018
Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (OJ L 282, 19.10.2016, p. 1).

(7) Decision No 529/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on accounting rules on greenhouse gas emissions and removals resulting from activities relating to land use, land-use change and forestry and on information concerning actions relating to those activities (OJ L 165, 18.6.2013, p. 80).

(8) Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on a mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and for reporting other information at national and Union level relevant to climate change and repealing Decision No 280/2004/EC (OJ L 165, 18.6.2013, p. 13).

(9) Commission Regulation (EU) No 601/2012 of 21 June 2012 on the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 181, 12.7.2012, p. 30).

(10) Council Decision 89/367/EEC of 29 May 1989 setting up a Standing Forestry Committee (OJ L 165, 15.6.1989, p. 14).

(11) Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States from 2021 to 2030 contributing to climate action to meet commitments under the Paris Agreement and amending Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 (see page 26 of this Official Journal).

(12) OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.

(13) Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) (OJ L 108, 25.4.2007, p. 1).


ANNEX I

GREENHOUSE GASES AND CARBON POOLS

A.Greenhouse gases as referred to in Article 2:

(a)carbon dioxide (CO2);

(b)methane (CH4);

(c)nitrous oxide (N2O).

Those greenhouse gases shall be expressed in terms of tonnes of CO2 equivalent and determined pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 525/2013.

B.Carbon pools as referred to in Article 5(4):

(a)above-ground biomass;

(b)below-ground biomass;

(c)litter;

(d)dead wood;

(e)soil organic carbon;

(f)harvested wood products in the land accounting categories of afforested land and managed forest land.


ANNEX II

MINIMUM VALUES FOR AREA SIZE, TREE CROWN COVER AND TREE HEIGHT PARAMETERS

Member StateArea (ha)Tree crown cover (%)Tree height (m)
Belgium0,5205
Bulgaria0,1105
Czech Republic0,05302
Denmark0,5105
Germany0,1105
Estonia0,5302
Ireland0,1205
Greece0,3252
Spain1,0203
France0,5105
Croatia0,1102
Italy0,5105
Cyprus0,3105
Latvia0,1205
Lithuania0,1305
Luxembourg0,5105
Hungary0,5305
Malta1,0305
Netherlands0,5205
Austria0,05302
Poland0,1102
Portugal1,0105
Romania0,25105
Slovenia0,25302
Slovakia0,3205
Finland0,5105
Sweden0,5105
United Kingdom0,1202


ANNEX III

BASE YEAR OR PERIOD FOR THE PURPOSE OF CALCULATING THE CAP PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 8(2)

Member StateBase Year/Period
Belgium1990
Bulgaria1988
Czech Republic1990
Denmark1990
Germany1990
Estonia1990
Ireland1990
Greece1990
Spain1990
France1990
Croatia1990
Italy1990
Cyprus1990
Latvia1990
Lithuania1990
Luxembourg1990
Hungary1985-87
Malta1990
Netherlands1990
Austria1990
Poland1988
Portugal1990
Romania1989
Slovenia1986
Slovakia1990
Finland1990
Sweden1990
United Kingdom1990


ANNEX IV

NATIONAL FORESTRY ACCOUNTING PLAN CONTAINING A MEMBER STATE’S FOREST REFERENCE LEVEL

A. Criteria and guidance for determining forest reference level

A Member State’s forest reference level shall be determined in accordance with the following criteria:

(a)the reference level shall be consistent with the goal of achieving a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century, including enhancing the potential removals by ageing forest stocks that may otherwise show progressively declining sinks;

(b)the reference level shall ensure that the mere presence of carbon stocks is excluded from accounting;

(c)the reference level should ensure a robust and credible accounting system that ensures that emissions and removals resulting from biomass use are properly accounted for;

(d)the reference level shall include the carbon pool of harvested wood products, thereby providing a comparison between assuming instantaneous oxidation and applying the first-order decay function and half-life values;

(e)a constant ratio between solid and energy use of forest biomass as documented in the period from 2000 to 2009 shall be assumed;

(f)the reference level should be consistent with the objective of contributing to the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources, as set out in the EU forest strategy, Member States’ national forest policies, and the EU biodiversity strategy;

(g)the reference level shall be consistent with the national projections of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks reported under Regulation (EU) No 525/2013;

(h)the reference level shall be consistent with greenhouse gas inventories and relevant historical data and shall be based on transparent, complete, consistent, comparable and accurate information. In particular, the model used to construct the reference level shall be able to reproduce historical data from the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

B. Elements of the national forestry accounting plan

The national forestry accounting plan submitted pursuant to Article 8 shall contain the following elements:

(a)a general description of the determination of the forest reference level and a description of how the criteria in this Regulation were taken into account;

(b)identification of the carbon pools and greenhouse gases which have been included in the forest reference level, reasons for omitting a carbon pool from the forest reference level determination, and demonstration of the consistency between the carbon pools included in the forest reference level;

(c)a description of approaches, methods and models, including quantitative information, used in the determination of the forest reference level, consistent with the most recently submitted national inventory report, and a description of documentary information on sustainable forest management practices and intensity as well as of adopted national policies;

(d)information on how harvesting rates are expected to develop under different policy scenarios;

(e)a description of how each of the following elements were considered in the determination of the forest reference level:

(i)the area under forest management;

(ii)emissions and removals from forests and harvested wood products as shown in greenhouse gas inventories and relevant historical data;

(iii)forest characteristics, including dynamic age-related forest characteristics, increments, rotation length and other information on forest management activities under ‘business as usual’;

(iv)historical and future harvesting rates disaggregated between energy and non-energy uses.


ANNEX V

FIRST ORDER DECAY FUNCTION, METHODOLOGIES AND DEFAULT HALF-LIFE VALUES FOR HARVESTED WOOD PRODUCTS

Methodological issues

—If it is not possible to differentiate between harvested wood products in the land accounting categories of afforested land and managed forest land, a Member State may choose to account for harvested wood products assuming that all emissions and removals occurred on managed forest land.

—Harvested wood products in solid waste disposal sites and harvested wood products that were harvested for energy purposes shall be accounted for on the basis of instantaneous oxidation.

—Imported harvested wood products, irrespective of their origin, shall not be accounted for by the importing Member State (‘production approach’).

—For exported harvested wood products, country-specific data refer to country-specific half-life values and harvested wood products usage in the importing country.

—Country-specific half-life values for harvested wood products placed on the market in the Union should not deviate from those used by the importing Member State.

—Member States may, for information purposes only, provide in their submission data on the share of wood used for energy purposes that was imported from outside the Union, and the countries of origin for such wood.

Member States may use country-specific methodologies and half-life values instead of the methodologies and default half-life values specified in this Annex, provided that such methodologies and values are determined on the basis of transparent and verifiable data and that the methodologies used are at least as detailed and accurate as those specified in this Annex.

Default half-life values:

Half-life value means the number of years it takes for the quantity of carbon stored in a harvested wood products category to decrease to one half of its initial value.

Default half-life values shall be as follows:

(a)2 years for paper;

(b)25 years for wood panels;

(c)35 years for sawn wood.

Member States may specify the wood-based material products, including bark, which fall within the categories referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) above, based on IPCC Guidelines as adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC or the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, provided that the available data are transparent and verifiable. Member States may also use country-specific sub-categories of any of those categories.


ANNEX VI

CALCULATION OF BACKGROUND LEVELS FOR NATURAL DISTURBANCES

1.For the calculation of the background level, the following information shall be provided:

(a)historical levels of emissions caused by natural disturbances;

(b)the type(s) of natural disturbance included in the estimation;

(c)total annual emissions estimations for those natural disturbance types for the period from 2001 to 2020, listed by land accounting categories;

(d)a demonstration of the time series consistency in all relevant parameters, including minimum area, emission estimation methodologies, coverages of carbon pools and gases.

2.The background level is calculated as the average of the 2001-2020 time series excluding all years for which abnormal levels of emissions were recorded, i.e. excluding all statistical outliers. The identification of statistical outliers shall be undertaken as follows:

(a)calculate the arithmetic average value and the standard deviation of the full time series 2001-2020;

(b)exclude from the time series all years for which the annual emissions are outside twice the standard deviation around the average;

(c)calculate again the arithmetic average value and the standard deviation of the time series 2001-2020 minus the years excluded in point (b);

(d)repeat points (b) and (c) until no outliers can be identified.

3.After calculating the background level pursuant to point 2 of this Annex, if emissions in a particular year in the periods from 2021 to 2025 and from 2026 to 2030 exceed the background level plus a margin, the amount of emissions exceeding the background level may be excluded in accordance with Article 10. The margin shall be equal to a probability level of 95 %.

4.The following emissions shall not be excluded:

(a)emissions resulting from harvesting and salvage logging activities that took place on land following the occurrence of natural disturbances;

(b)emissions resulting from prescribed burning that took place on land in any year of the period from 2021 to 2025 or from 2026 to 2030;

(c)emissions on lands that were subject to deforestation following the occurrence of natural disturbances.

5.Information requirements pursuant to Article 10(2) include the following:

(a)identification of all land areas affected by natural disturbances in that particular year, including their geographical location, the period and types of natural disturbances;

(b)evidence that no deforestation has occurred during the rest of the period from 2021 to 2025 or from 2026 to 2030 on lands that were affected by natural disturbances and in respect of which emissions were excluded from accounting;

(c)a description of verifiable methods and criteria to be used to identify deforestation on those lands in the subsequent years of the period from 2021 to 2025 or from 2026 to 2030;

(d)where feasible, a description of measures the Member State undertook to prevent or limit the impact of those natural disturbances;

(e)where feasible, a description of measures the Member State undertook to rehabilitate the lands affected by those natural disturbances.


ANNEX VII

MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION AVAILABLE UNDER THE MANAGED FOREST LAND FLEXIBILITY REFERRED TO IN POINT (B) OF ARTICLE 13(3)

Member StateReported average removals by sinks from forest land for the period from 2000 to 2009 in million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per yearCompensation limit expressed in million tonnes of CO2 equivalent for the period from 2021 to 2030
Belgium–3,61–2,2
Bulgaria–9,31–5,6
Czech Republic–5,14–3,1
Denmark–0,56–0,1
Germany–45,94–27,6
Estonia–3,07–9,8
Ireland–0,85–0,2
Greece–1,75–1,0
Spain–26,51–15,9
France–51,23–61,5
Croatia–8,04–9,6
Italy–24,17–14,5
Cyprus–0,15–0,03
Latvia–8,01–25,6
Lithuania–5,71–3,4
Luxembourg–0,49–0,3
Hungary–1,58–0,9
Malta0,000,0
Netherlands–1,72–0,3
Austria–5,34–17,1
Poland–37,50–22,5
Portugal–5,13–6,2
Romania–22,34–13,4
Slovenia–5,38–17,2
Slovakia–5,42–6,5
Finland–36,79–44,1
Sweden–39,55–47,5
United Kingdom–16,37–3,3