Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2001)579 - Approval of the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the joint fulfilment of commitments thereunder - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2001)579 - Approval of the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the joint fulfilment of commitments ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2001)579  |
| date | 23-10-2001 |
Climate change is recognised to be one of the greatest environmental and economic challenges facing humanity. The international community initially responded to this threat by adopting the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This Convention has now been ratified by 186 Parties, and was approved on behalf of the European Community by Council Decision 94/69/EC of 15 December 1993. The ultimate objective of the Convention is to achieve stabilisation of greenhouse-gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level which prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
The Convention requires industrialised countries to aim at returning, individually or jointly, their emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the year 2000. The latest data indicate that the EU will meet this goal, as its emissions in 1999 were 4% below 1990 levels.
However, at their first meeting, the Parties to the Convention recognised that this aim was inadequate to achieve the Convention's ultimate objective. The Parties therefore began preparations for the adoption of a legal instrument enabling appropriate action to be taken beyond the year 2000.
These preparations culminated in the adoption of Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on 11 December 1997, which sets legally binding emissions targets for industrialised countries to meet by 2012.
One year later in Buenos Aires, the Parties to the Convention decided upon a plan of action to elaborate details of how the Protocol would be implemented (Decision 1/CP.4). The core elements for the implementation of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action were agreed upon by consensus at the resumed sixth session of the Conference of the Parties held in Bonn from 19-27 July 2001 (Decision 5/CP.6).
At the Gothenburg European Council on 15 and 16 June 2001, Heads of State and Government of the EU called on the Commission to prepare a proposal for ratification by the European Community before the end of 2001, making it possible for the Union and its Member States to rapidly ratify the Kyoto Protocol pursuing its entry into force by 2002.
Article 4 of the Kyoto Protocol allows Parties to the Protocol to meet their emission limitation and reduction commitments jointly. The European Community and its Member States have always intended to make use of this provision and therefore declared, when the Protocol was signed in New York on 29 April 1998, that 'the European Community and its Member States will fulfil their respective commitments under Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Protocol jointly in accordance with the provisions of Article 4'.
The Council agreed upon the contributions of each Member State to the overall 8% reduction commitment at its meeting of Environment Ministers of 15-16 June 1998. The Council Conclusions of 16 June 1998 set out the commitment of each Member State (often referred to as the so-called 'Burden Sharing Agreement'), and state that the terms of this agreement will be included in the Council Decision on the approval of the Protocol by the European Community.
Climate change falls partly within the Community's sphere of competence, as set out in Annex III to the proposed Council Decision. In addition, the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) has identified a number of further potential policies and measures for adoption at Community level.
The Protocol will enter into force when 55 Parties to the Convention have ratified which account for at least 55% of CO2 emissions of Annex I Parties in 1990 i. A longstanding objective of the EU has been for the Protocol to enter into force in time for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002 in Johannesburg.
Contents
The subject matter of the Kyoto Protocol comes under the heading of Community environment policy. This proposal is based on Article 174 i of the Treaty establishing the European Community, in conjunction with the first sentence of Article 300 i and the first subparagraph of Article 300 i. Article 174 i confers express competence on the Community to conclude the Kyoto Protocol, while Article 300 lays down the procedural requirements. The Commission's proposal is subject to approval by a qualified majority in the Council after consultation of the European Parliament.
Both the EC and the Member States are Parties to the UNFCCC and have signed the Kyoto Protocol. Under the Protocol, the EC as well as the Member States have quantified emission limitation or reduction commitments. Implementation of the provisions of the Protocol falls partly within Community competence and partly within the competence of Member States. Therefore, it is necessary for both the EC and the Member States individually to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
In view of the joint fulfilment of commitments by the EC and its Member States in accordance with Article 4 of the Protocol, and in particular with a view to the 'Burden Sharing Agreement' of June 1998, the EC and the Member States should deposit their instruments of ratification or approval simultaneously.
In recent years, a range of policies and measures have been adopted at Community level to deal with climate change. Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol is consistent with other Community policies, notably those that have been adopted with a view to implementing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and with the decision to adopt further measures in specific sectors such as energy and transport. The recently adopted Green Paper on the Security of Energy Supply i and the White Paper on a Common Transport Policy i include a number of measures that will contribute significantly to further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. There is no direct inconsistency with other Community policies.
Greenhouse gas emissions (excluding land use change and forestry) in the EU in 1999 have decreased by 4% compared to 1990. Thus, the EU as a whole seems to be firmly on the road to meeting its target for 2008-2012. Measures taken by the Member States, together with a number of important measures at Community level i, will contribute to further emission reductions in the future. However, the EU could substantially exceed its agreed emission target in 2010 mainly due to large increases in transport emissions if additional measures in all Member States and at Community level are not implemented. This decision requires all Member States to take action to comply with their reduction targets, and 'over-compliance' by some Member States should not be taken for granted by other Member States as a way of helping to meet the overall EU target under the Kyoto Protocol. However, such 'over-compliance', in conjunction with an effective trading system, could help to ensure that those other Member States meet their obligations in an efficient manner.
Thus, ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Protocol will require the streamlining of policies and adoption of further measures at Community level, in particular in the sectors of energy, transport, industry, households, agriculture and research. A set of potential further measures has been identified in the context of the multi-stakeholder European Climate Change Programme, the White Paper on a Common Transport Policy and the Green Paper on the Security of Energy Supply. This includes a recommendation by the ECCP that emissions trading within the EU can make a significant contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases in a cost-effective manner. A proposal for an EC emissions trading scheme is therefore put forward at the same time and together with this proposal.
Economic analyses of the Kyoto Protocol and its implications for the EU show that the overall compliance costs can vary. Provided that cost-effective policies are given full priority, compliance costs are estimated at around 0.06% of GDP by 2010. A number of other studies provide estimates in a similar range of up to 0.3%. The range indicated reflects the uncertainties in several variables, for instance, economic growth. Taking into account the elements of the Bonn Agreement regarding sinks and the use of the Kyoto mechanisms, compliance costs are likely to be lower. Moreover, the Member States may also make use of the flexible mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol. The competitiveness of the overall EU economy (including international trade patterns) is not expected to be very much affected. However, for individual energy intensive sectors, compliance costs could be more important, negatively affecting their economic performance relative to some international competitors, including other industrialised countries. In general, care must be taken that Community measures reflect the principle of sustainability, i.e. their economic, social and environmental impact, as agreed by the European Council in Gothenburg.
Finally, the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases in the longer term is fully in line with the objectives set out in the Commission proposal for a Sixth Environmental Action Programme (6EAP), the first reading of the European Parliament and the common position of the Council on this proposal, as well as with the Commission proposal for an EU Strategy for Sustainable Development.
Adoption of this instrument will make the EC a full Party to the Kyoto Protocol with the ensuing financial obligations to the budget of this Treaty. Currently, the contribution of the EC to the annual budget of the UNFCCC amounts to EUR 299 326.95. Since the Secretariat of the UNFCCC will also serve as the Secretariat of the Kyoto Protocol, synergies and therefore a possibly lower annual budget can be expected. In any case, as agreed under the UN scale of assessment, the contribution of the EC should not exceed 2.5% of the annual budget of the Protocol.
In addition to the contribution to the Trust Fund for the functioning of the UNFCCC, the Commission has regularly made voluntary financial contributions to the Trust Fund for Participation of Developing Countries or to Parties organising specific meetings of importance for the implementation of the Convention or the negotiations of the Kyoto Protocol (Conference of the Parties, workshops). It is expected that such contributions from the budget of DG ENV will continue to be made subsequent to the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol.
Moreover, at the resumed sixth session of the Conference of the Parties in July 2001 in Bonn, a political declaration was made by the EU, together with Canada, Iceland, New-Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, on financial support for developing countries under the UNFCCC to reach a level of EUR 450 million per year by the year 2005. Funding to be counted towards this target can include (i) contributions to climate change related activities from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), (ii) bilateral and multilateral funding, additional to current levels, (iii) funding for the Special Climate Change Fund, the Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund and the Least Developed Country Fund, and (iv) funding deriving from the share of proceeds of the Clean Development Mechanism, following entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. The distribution between the donor countries of the pledged amount is not yet fixed, but based on document FCCC/CP/2001/2/Add.1 the contribution from the EU is estimated to be around EUR 355 million. The Commission notes that there may be a shortfall in Member States' contributions to this effort. The Commission is willing to examine to what extent it can contribute towards a solution.
Article 1
This Article lays down the actual approval of the Kyoto Protocol by the European Community.
This Article refers to the fact that the EC and the Member States will fulfil their commitments under Article 3 i of the Protocol jointly, in accordance with Article 4 of the Protocol. At the same time, and in accordance with Article 4 i of the Protocol, it refers to the respective emission levels allocated to the European Community and to each Member State that will apply for the first commitment period (2008-2012), as set out in Annex II to this proposal. It states that the Member States shall take measures to comply with the emission levels set out in Annex II, which is necessary for the European Community to fulfil its obligations under the Protocol.
This Article states that the total amount of greenhouse gases which the European Community and its Member States can emit, which is to be calculated in terms of tonnes of CO2 equivalent, will be determined once their base-year emissions are definitively established. This will happen at the latest before the start of the commitment period. This cannot be addressed now because base-year emissions have not been definitively fixed and will not be at least until after the Protocol has entered into force. These will be determined through the procedure referred to in Article 8 of Decision 93/389/EEC (the Monitoring Mechanism committee) in accordance with relevant methodologies developed under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol including those developed for the calculation of sinks under Article 3 i and i of the Protocol.
This Article foresees the notification of this Decision, once adopted, to the Secretariat of the UNFCCC, and its deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations as required under respectively Article 4 i and Article 24 i and i of the Protocol.
This Article requires Member States to take the necessary steps to deposit their instruments of ratification at the same time as the EC and lays down a timetable for doing so with a view to respecting the political objective of the EU of ratification and entry into force of the Protocol in time for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg from 2-11 September 2002 (deposit of the instrument of ratification should be done at the latest on 14 June to ensure entry into force for the EU 90 days later on 11 September, the last day of the WSSD).
This Article states that this Decision is addressed to the Member States.
This Annex contains the text of the Kyoto Protocol, agreed on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan.
The Council conclusions of 16 June 1998 set out the contributions of each Member State to the overall 8% reduction commitment, the so-called 'Burden Sharing Agreement'. These were:
>TABLE POSITION>
This Annex sets out the emission levels for the European Community and its Member States in accordance with Article 4 of the Protocol, translating the figures of the 'Burden Sharing Agreement' into emission levels as presented in Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol, i.e. as a percentage of the base year or period.
This Annex contains a declaration by the European Community on the extent of its competence in relation to climate change and the matters governed by the Protocol.