Download EU environment and climate change policies

EUROPEAN UNION
Committee of the Regions
EU environment and climate
change policies
Factsheet
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In the past 30 years, the EU has adopted a growing
body of environmental legislation aimed at improving the quality of the environment. EU Directives cover the quality of water, air and noise pollution, the safety of chemicals, set standards for
waste disposal, and protect the EU’s native wildlife
and plants. The EU has also taken a leading role
in global climate change negotiations and committed its Member States to reducing greenhouse
aiming gas emissions for the first time in 1997 at
the UN Conference on Climate Change in Kyoto,
Japan. The 2008 EU Climate Change package established the ‘20:20:20 targets’ for 20% of energy
to come from renewable sources and committed
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 20% by
2020. End-2015, global negotiations will continue
and aim at reaching a new global agreement at a
climate change conference in Paris.
Climate change and EU regions and cities
Recent research suggests that 170 million people
- more than one third of the EU population - live in
regions significantly affected by climate change.
On the other side, regions and cities have many
opportunities for contributing to solutions. A
number of sub-national governments worldwide
have formed the ‘R20 Regions of Climate
Action’ network to facilitate regional low-carbon
investments. Urban planning, public transport
systems, and building codes are examples of areas
where cities can act to reduce their carbon emissions.
A group of 2,000 cities launched the ‘Compact
of Mayors’ at the 2014 UN Climate Summit. The
group has 200 targets and strategies to reduce
emissions by 454 million tonnes of CO2 by 2020.
Between 30 November and 11 December 2015, the
21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) will take place in Paris. It will decide upon
a new global agreement on climate to stay within
a 2°C increase in average temperature. Among
the EU initiatives at local and sub-national to fight
climate change, there is the Covenant of Mayors
gathering more than 6,500 regional and local
authorities committed to go beyond EU legislation
requirements in terms of decreasing greenhouse gas
emissions. The European initiative on Smart Cities
fosters exchange on the most efficient local models
and strategies to progress towards a low carbon
future.
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EUROPEAN UNION
EU environment and climate
change policies
Rationale
Sustainable development is one of the overarching EU objectives and a related strategy was first
launched in 2001. Closely tied to climate change
and energy policy, the current sustainable development strategy stresses the importance of education, research and public funding to achieve
sustainable production and consumption patterns. Progress on the EU’s sustainable development strategy is measured based on a set of 12
headline indicators and regular reports. In 2009,
the European Commission proposed a package
of measures to promote eco-friendly products, including greater use of energy efficiency labels like
those found on wash machines. ction of human
health and the environment.
Since 1973, the EU has adopted a series of Environment Action Programmes, and the seventh
edition runs until 2020. In the framework of the
Europe 2020 strategy, the EU has set itself the objective of becoming a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy by 2020 with a set of policies and
actions aimed at making it a low-carbon and resource-efficient economy through the reduction
of greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared
to 1990 levels by 2020, an increase of the share of
renewables in final energy consumption to 20%,
and an 20% increase in energy efficiency.
Legal foundations and legislation
Environmental protection was not initially mentioned in the Treaty of Rome (1958), and it was
not until 1973 that the first of a series of European Environmental Action Programmes (EAP)
was launched. The Single European Act (1986)
marked the beginning of a more prominent role
for environmental protection in EU policy-making, introducing the principle that environmental
protection should be considered in all new EU legislation. EU environmental policy was substantially expanded by the Treaties of Maastricht (1992)
and Amsterdam (1997), which made sustainable
development one of the EU’s central objectives.
Sustainable development also forms a key part
of the Europe 2020 Strategy, which underpins all
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EU policy regarding the single market. The Lisbon
Treaty (2009) made sustainable development a
key objective for the EU and Articles 3(3), 21(2)(d)
of the TEU and Articles 4(2)(d), 11, 114, and Title XX
on the Environment, including Articles 191-193,
of the TFEU are the primary sources of EU legislation. European environmental policy rests on the
principles of precaution, prevention, rectifying
pollution at source, and ‘the polluter pays’. Several complementary policies and instruments (such
as environmental impact assessments, LIFE+, and
the EU eco-label and eco-audit) have also been
adopted to guide EU action in the area of environmental protection and, more broadly, sustainable
development.
The EU has passed a significant amount of secondary legislation aimed at improving the quality of water, tackling air and noise pollution, ensuring the safety of chemicals, setting standards
for waste disposal and protecting the EU’s native
wildlife and plants. For example, EU legislation is
aimed at establishing health-based standards for
pollutants and EU countries are required to monitor such pollutants and to take action if levels
exceed safe limits. In some of its latest efforts on
this front, the EU set binding limits on emissions
of fine particles known as PM2.5. Released by cars
and trucks, these microscopic particles can cause
respiratory diseases. Under the new law, EU countries will have to reduce exposure to fine particles
in urban areas by an average 20% by 2020 (based
on 2010 levels). The Water Framework Directive
is an example of a water policy, aiming for rivers,
lakes, ground and coastal waters to be of “good
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EUROPEAN UNION
EU environment and climate
change policies
quality” by 2015. The Birds Directive established as
early as 1979 and the Habitats Directive are pieces
of European Union legislation for protection of biodiversity and natural habitats. These protections
however only directly cover animals and plants;
fungi and micro-organisms have no protection
under European Union law. The directives are implemented through the Natura 2000 programme
and cover 30,000 sites throughout Europe.
Each EU citizen produces about half a ton of
household waste per year and only 40% of it is
reused or recycled. In some countries more than
80% still goes to landfill. Turning waste into a resource is one key to a circular economy. EU waste
management legislation is based on the a hierarchy from prevention to reuse, recycling, recovery
and, as the least preferred option, disposal.
A cornerstone of the EU’s climate change strategy, the EU Emissions Trading System, rewards
companies that reduce their CO2 emissions and
penalises those that exceed limits. Introduced
in 2005, the scheme takes in about 12,000 factories and plants responsible for about half the EU’s
emissions of CO2, the main gas blamed for global
warming. Under the system, EU governments set
limits on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted
by energy-intensive industries like power generation and steel and cement makers. If these busi-
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nesses want to emit more CO2 than their quota,
they have to buy spare permits from more efficient companies. In the future, more industries
will be subject to quotas, including airlines and
petrochemical companies. EU countries will also
be able to offset emissions by buying credits from
projects to reduce CO2 in non-EU countries.
On the themes mentioned above as well as on
specific regional and local issues, the European
Environment Agency (EEA) provides data and
analyses as well as Eurostat, the EU’ statistical office, who regularly updates indicators on European environmental accounts and the sustainable
development strategy.
Governance and implementation
Regional and authorities are crucial actors in EU
environmental policy and its implementation
and the European Committee of the Regions and
its Commission for then Environment, Climate
Change and Energy (ENVE) are therefore involved
in the policy cycle setting EU legislation in these
field through opinions and other activities. In
2012, for example, a Technical Platform for Cooperation on the Environment was set up to foster
dialogue on regional and local problems and solutions in the application of EU environment law.
GREECO - Territorial potentials
for a greener economy
Between 2011 and 2014, the GREECO project
looked into the potential of the green economy
in Europe’s regions and cities. Supported by the
ESPON programme, an international team of
researchers weighted different policy options for
the development of a green economy and how can
these could be better territorially integrated and
create synergies. European eco-industries are very
competitive representing about a third of the world’s
turnover and 3.4 million jobs.
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EUROPEAN UNION
EU environment and climate
change policies
The European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law
(IMPEL) is a network of the environmental authorities of EU Member States, acceding and candidate countries, and Norway. It provides a framework for policy makers, environmental inspectors
and enforcement officers to exchange ideas, and
encourages the development of enforcement
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structures and best practices. To support the implementation and enforcement of environmental legislation, the EU has adopted the directive
on environmental liability, the recommendation
providing for minimum criteria for environmental
inspections and the directive on the protection of
the environment through criminal law.
Disclaimer
The content of this document and any opinions expressed therein do not
necessarily represent the official position of the European Committee of the
Regions (CoR). It is addressed to the participants of the online course (MOOC)
oft he CoR on “regions, EU institutions and policy-making“. Reproduction and
translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is
acknowledged and the CoR is given prior notice and sent a copy.
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Manuscript completed in November 2015
European Committee of the Regions | Directorate for Communication
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© European Union, 2015
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