LULUCF Regulation
Rules for the land use sector 2021 to 2025
Rules for the Land Use Sector 2021 to 2025
In the run-up to the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, the European Council set an EU climate target of at least 40 percent reduction by 2030 compared to the base year 1990 during its meeting on October 23 and 24, 2014. Furthermore, the European Union committed to integrating all relevant economic sectors into the target architecture, including the land use sector.
On May 30, 2018, the EU adopted accounting rules for individual land use sectors—primarily forestry, cropland, and grassland (Regulation EU/2018/841, the LULUCF Regulation).
The accounting of agricultural land is carried out according to Article 7 by comparing emissions or carbon sequestration against the period 2005–2009.
The accounting of land use in forestry, which also includes carbon storage in wood products, is carried out according to Article 8 of the LULUCF Regulation based on a reference value. This reference value reflects a projected development of the forest under the continuation of historical management practices from 2000 to 2009. The reference value is thus understood as a projection of “business-as-usual” forest management and is intended to ensure that only credits or debits resulting from deviations from this management are accounted for.
The exact data basis for the reference value had to be presented by EU member states in an accounting plan according to Article 8(3) of the LULUCF Regulation. Austria submitted a draft of this plan to the European Commission at the end of 2018. It underwent an independent review during 2019. The final report was submitted to the European Commission at the end of 2019.
This report now foresees an annual net carbon sequestration of 4.66 million tons of CO2 equivalent for the period 2021 to 2025.
If adjustments in forest reporting occur during the 2021 to 2025 period, technical corrections must also be made to the reference value to ensure methodological consistency.
Additionally, for this period, Article 13 of the LULUCF Regulation established a specific flexibility mechanism that can be used by EU member states whose forests are a net carbon sink but still have to record debits.
Rules for the Land Use Sector 2026 to 2030
In December 2019, the European Commission presented the "European Green Deal," a roadmap for a sustainable EU economy with the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. As part of this, it was also proposed to adjust the climate target for 2030 accordingly. In December 2020, EU heads of state and government confirmed a new EU climate target for 2030 of at least a 55 percent net reduction and invited the European Commission to submit proposals for its implementation. Over the following years, the relevant climate legislation was revised.
The LULUCF Regulation was also amended for the period after 2025, with new accounting rules agreed upon that are closely aligned with the target architecture of the Effort Sharing Regulation.
For 2030, the EU has now agreed to increase the net sink in the LULUCF sector to 310 million tons of CO₂ equivalent. This corresponds to an increase of 15% compared to the period 2016 to 2018. Target trajectories for the years 2026 to 2029, as well as a target for 2030, have been set for individual EU member states. Austria’s LULUCF target foresees an increase in the net sink by 879,000 tons of CO₂ equivalent compared to 2016 to 2018.
The change in the accounting system starting in 2026 means that there will no longer be separate accounting rules for individual land uses (e.g., afforestation/deforestation, forest management, or agricultural land), nor special provisions for extreme events.
However, for the period 2026 to 2030, Article 13b of the LULUCF Regulation establishes a specific flexibility mechanism that can be used by EU member states that can demonstrate that the LULUCF target cannot be met despite significant efforts.
Target Architecture 2021 to 2030
The targets of the LULUCF Regulation are closely linked to the climate targets set out in the Effort Sharing Regulation (Regulation EU/2018/842). In the event of non-compliance with the LULUCF targets, certificates from this regulation may be used.
According to Article 14 of the LULUCF Regulation, accounting for the periods 2021 to 2025 and 2026 to 2030 will be carried out based on reports to be prepared by March 15, 2027, and March 15, 2032, respectively.
These reports will be subject to a detailed review by the European Commission.