Closing loopholes in EU’s centerpiece climate law

The authors contend that proposed loopholes in the EU's Effort Sharing Regulation—which covers over 60% of EU greenhouse gas emissions—could allow member states to avoid real climate action between 2021 and 2030. They highlight a disconnect between national governments, such as those of Spain and Italy, and ambitious local authorities in cities like Gijón and Salerno, arguing that the EU must support urban-led mitigation efforts to achieve its climate commitments.

• The Effort Sharing Regulation is a critical component of EU climate policy, covering more than 60% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions by setting binding national reduction targets for agriculture, waste, buildings, and transport.
• Proposed loopholes in the draft law could result in the 30% emission reduction target being achieved only on paper rather than in practice. These loopholes include the use of forestry credits, the carry-over of unused pollution permits from before 2020, a misleading starting point, and the use of surplus permits from the oversupplied EU carbon market to offset emissions from buildings and transport.
• Cities and regions are significant drivers of EU climate goals, with cities expected to deliver more than one-third of the EU's 2020 climate target, which is approximately 240 million tonnes of CO2 emission reductions.
• There is a disparity between national and local climate ambitions in certain member states; while the national governments of Italy and Spain ranked lowest on the EU Climate Leader Board regarding the effort sharing law, many of their cities are pursuing low-carbon transitions via the European Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.
• Specific urban examples demonstrate high mitigation potential: Gijón in Spain aims for at least a 35% emission cut by 2020 with a €20 million infrastructure investment, and Salerno in Italy reduces CO2 emissions by 24,000 tons annually through a new composting plant and 70% municipal waste recycling.

APA

Roumet, C., & de Jong, F. (2017). Closing loopholes in EU’s centerpiece climate law. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/10/10/closing-loopholes-eus-centerpiece-climate-law/

Chicago

Roumet, Claire, and Femke de Jong. Closing loopholes in EU’s centerpiece climate law. Carbon Market Watch, 2017. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/10/10/closing-loopholes-eus-centerpiece-climate-law/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Roumet |first1=Claire |last2=de Jong |first2=Femke |title=Closing loopholes in EU’s centerpiece climate law |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=10 October 2017 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/10/10/closing-loopholes-eus-centerpiece-climate-law/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{roumet2017closing, author = {Roumet, Claire and de Jong, Femke}, title = {{Closing loopholes in EU’s centerpiece climate law}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/10/10/closing-loopholes-eus-centerpiece-climate-law/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }