Directive 2018/410 - Amendment of Directive 2003/87/EC to enhance cost-effective emission reductions and low-carbon investments, and Decision (EU) 2015/1814 - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 76/3

Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) established a system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Union, in order to promote reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective and economically efficient manner.

The European Council of October 2014 made a commitment to reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions of the Union by at least 40 % below 1990 levels by 2030. All sectors of the economy should contribute to achieving those emission reductions and the target is to be delivered in the most cost-effective manner through the European Union emission trading system (‘EU ETS’), amounting to a reduction of 43 % below 2005 levels by 2030. This was confirmed in the intended nationally determined reduction commitment of the Union and its Member States submitted to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 6 March 2015.

The Paris Agreement, adopted on 12 December 2015 under the UNFCCC (‘the Paris Agreement’) entered into force on 4 November 2016. Its Parties have agreed to hold the increase in the global average temperature well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1,5 °C above pre-industrial levels. The Parties have also agreed to periodically take stock of the implementation of the Paris Agreement to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the Paris Agreement and its long-term goals.

In line with the commitment of the co-legislators expressed in Directive 2009/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) and Decision No 406/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), all sectors of the economy should contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Paris Agreement, the Union and its Member States have undertaken an economy-wide reduction target. Efforts to limit international maritime emissions through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) are under way and should be encouraged. The IMO has set up a process to adopt in 2018 an initial emission reduction strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. The adoption of an ambitious emission reduction objective as part of this initial strategy has become a matter of urgency and is important for ensuring that international shipping contributes its fair share to the efforts needed to achieve the objective of well below 2 °C agreed under the Paris Agreement. The Commission should keep this under regular review, and should report at least once a year to the European Parliament and to the Council on the progress achieved in the IMO towards an ambitious emission reduction objective, and on accompanying measures to ensure that the sector duly contributes to the efforts needed to achieve the objectives agreed under the Paris Agreement. Action from the IMO or the Union should start from 2023, including preparatory work on adoption and implementation...