Progress of EU Climate Action in 2019

one? Greenhouse gas emission reduction

In 2017, greenhouse gas emissions across Europe have fallen by 21.7% from 1990 levels. Preliminary data recently released by member states show that greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.0 per cent between 2017 and 2018, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 23.2 per cent from 1990 levels in 2018, indicating that the EU is steadily moving towards achieving its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 20 per cent.

However, member countries' forecasts show that the target of a 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 will not be met. Current policies and measures can achieve a 30% reduction in emissions by 2030, while the implementation of all planned additional policies and measures can achieve a 36% reduction. Although the outlook for 2019 is more optimistic than the 2018 forecast, member states need to do more to meet the 2030 emissions reduction target.

Only Greece, Portugal and Sweden are expected to achieve their 2030 "effort sharing" targets on time under existing policies and measures. Seven other member States (Belgium, Croatia, France, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Spain) plan to achieve their goals through additional policies. The remaining 18 member states have not yet indicated in their projections how to achieve the goal of "effort sharing".

two? renewable energy

In the area of renewable energy development and energy efficiency, there are no binding national targets to ensure the achievement of the EU's 2030 targets in these areas. Member States are using the National Energy and Climate Plan (National Energy and Climate Plans), which will be completed by the end of 2019, to set 2030 national targets for these and other areas. Only after these plans have been finalized will it be possible to track the progress of member States in achieving their 2030 goals.

EU renewable energy accounted for 17.5 per cent in 2017 and an estimated 18.0 per cent in 2018, still higher than the indicative level set out in the Renewable Energy Directive (Renewable Energy Directive). As a result, the EU seems on track to meet its target of 20 per cent of renewable energy in 2020. However, in the transport sector, only 7.6 per cent of energy comes from renewable energy in 2017 and an estimated 8.1 per cent in 2018, making it impossible for the transport sector to meet the target of 10 per cent of energy from renewable energy in 2020.

However, the share of renewable energy is not growing fast enough to meet the EU's target of 32 per cent of renewable energy by 2030. Since 2005, the proportion of renewable energy in total final energy consumption has increased at an average annual rate of 0.7%. To meet the EU's 2030 renewable energy target, this growth rate needs to increase by at least 1.1 per cent a year over the next decade.

three? Energy efficiency

In 2018, the EU's final energy consumption increased by 0.1% for the fourth year in a row. The growth trend in the construction industry is the most obvious, with the final energy consumption of the construction industry growing by 8.3 per cent between 2014 and 2017, while the transportation industry grew by 5.8 per cent over the same period. At the same time, primary energy consumption fell by 0.9% in 2018.

Given these trends, it seems increasingly difficult for the EU to meet its energy efficiency targets for 2020. In addition, to achieve the target of 32.5% reduction in emissions by 2030, the EU's energy consumption needs to decline more than twice as fast as it did in 2005-2017. Although overall trends at the EU level may prevent it from meeting its 2020 energy efficiency targets, some member States have shown significant progress in this area.

four? EU carbon emissions trading system

Emissions from fixed facilities covered by ETS fell by 4.1 per cent between 2017 and 2018. Of this total, emissions from combustion facilities fell by 5.9%, mainly due to the phasing out of coal use by power plants, while emissions from other industrial facilities fell by 0.7%. By contrast, airlines' greenhouse gas emissions continued to increase, by 4.0 per cent in 2017-2018, mainly reflecting the growing demand for air travel.

Based on the measures currently taken, ETS emissions from EU member states, Iceland and Norway are expected to continue to decline, albeit at a rate lower than historical levels. By 2030, ETS emissions will be 36 per cent lower than in 2005, still falling short of the 43 per cent reduction target. ETS emissions from 10 countries are expected to increase by 2030. Although fewer EU EUA were auctioned in 2018 than in 2017, auction revenues rose from 5.5 billion euros to 14.1 billion euros as the average quota price increased from 5.80 euros per tonne in 2017 to 15.50 euros per tonne in 2018.

The surplus of emissions quotas in 2018 was the same as in 2017, at about 1.65 billion euros. If the net demand for aviation quotas is taken into account, the quota available to operators in 2018 will be lower than in 2017. From September 2019 to August 2020, about 397 million tons of quota will enter the market stability reserve (MSR). Under the current measures, the total quota in circulation (TNAC) may not fall below the lower limit of the 400m-tonne MSR threshold until 2030.

five? Transport fuel

The fuel quality Directive (Fuel Quality Directive) requires transport fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity by at least 6 per cent by 2020 compared with 2010. Road transport fuel suppliers are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet the target of a 6 per cent reduction by 2020. In 2017, the average greenhouse gas emission intensity of fuel consumed by 22 member countries (except Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain) was only 3.4% lower than that in 2010 (excluding indirect land-use change emission intensity for biofuels).

In 2017, diesel continued to dominate EU fuel sales, at 72.3 per cent, while gasoline sales accounted for 27.7 per cent. From 2016 to 2017, gasoline sales increased by 2.9 per cent year-on-year and diesel sales increased by 5.2 per cent. Compared with gasoline, diesel accounted for 72.3% of total sales in 2017, up from 55.6% in 2001. All diesel sold in the European Union contains biodiesel, while 87.6% of gasoline contains bioethanol.

six? Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) directive implementation

The carbon dioxide geological storage directive (also known as the CCS directive) establishes a legal framework for environmentally safe geological storage of carbon dioxide. The report on the implementation of the CCS directive shows that the application of the relevant provisions of the directive is still very limited. Nevertheless, CCS continues to support its R & D activities as a member country interested in mitigation technologies. The report also shows that the provisions of the CCS directive have been correctly applied in EU member states. Many of these countries continue to support CCS research and demonstration activities through national plans and funds. In addition, many countries have participated in a number of European research and cooperation projects, indicating the growing interest and potential in this issue.

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