The European Commission expects to table a proposal on how to tackle the bloc’s land use (LULUCF) emissions in the first half of 2016, following similar bills covering the ETS and other non-ETS sectors.
“The Commission is planning to table a proposal in the first half of 2016,” a Commission spokeswoman told EurActiv, adding that this will enable sufficient time to consult stakeholders further on the issue.
The Commission expects to publish before August a legislative proposal to revise the bloc’s ETS Directive to cover the post-2020 period, while a proposal covering other non-ETS sectors is due later in the year.
The Commission is inviting stakeholder views on preparing both the LULUCF and other non-ETS sectors in two separate consultations open until June 18.
The EU’s INDC published earlier this year postponed a decision on how to account for land use emissions but vowed to establish a policy before 2020.
It was altered from an earlier draft following criticism that its inclusion in an overall 2030 goal could enable governments to offset CO2 removals due to land use against emission reduction efforts in other non-ETS sectors such as transport, waste and buildings.
Rules on land use accounting are also set to be a thorny issue at the December UN climate summit in Paris as the sector covers around a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
