EU Mulls Enhanced Rules for Monitoring, Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions
December 1, 2011 in International Environment Reporter
BRUSSELS—The European Commission Nov. 23 proposed to expand the greenhouse gas emissions data that EU countries are annually required to report.
The proposal would revise a 2004 technical decision setting out rules for the 27 member countries to monitor and report their emissions.
The revised rules, in the form of a regulation or law that is uniformly binding across the bloc, need to be adopted before 2013 so member states can correctly implement legislation that sets climate-related targets through 2020, the Commission said.
Among other things, the Commission compiles EU emissions data for inclusion in greenhouse gas inventories submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The new reporting requirements would have EU countries submit greenhouse gas emissions data on maritime transportation, non-carbon dioxide emissions from aviation, and land use and land-use change, in addition to data already reported, the Commission said.
The Commission said the new rules would make it easier to monitor EU countries’ implementation of the so-called effort-sharing decision (406/2009/EC), a law enacted at the end of 2008 (32 INER 5, 1/7/09.
It requires member states by 2020 to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 percent from sectors not covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), compared to 2005 levels.