The biggest climate law of all times has finally been adopted. After the successful vote in the European Parliament last Tuesday with a majority of over 70%, also the Member States voted in favour today with a qualified majority by 23 Member States (Poland and Hungary against, Belgium and Bulgaria abstained). Peter Liese, environment spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), said: “Emissions trading is the most cost-effective way to protect our climate. The extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and storms show that we urgently need to act. At the same time, we have specifically made sure that jobs in energy-intensive industries are protected and that low-income groups of the population are not left behind in the transition."
Read more: Biggest climate law of all times now finally adopted
"We are on the verge of adopting the biggest climate protection law of all time," stated the environmental policy spokesperson of the largest political group in the European Parliament and rapporteur for the European emissions trading, EPP MEP Peter Liese. Today, on Monday, the European Parliament will discuss a legislative package and vote on the relevant texts tomorrow, on Tuesday. The topic is emissions trading, which covers so far not only energy-intensive industry, power generation and aviation, but will also include maritime transport in the future. A separate ETS 2 will further cover road transport and heat generation, i.e., heating of buildings and process heat in industry. With its extension to maritime transport, the existing ETS alone will accomplish 25 times as much CO2 savings by 2030 as the controversial regulation on CO2 emissions from cars.
Read more: Biggest climate protection law of all time is about to be passed
“I am very happy that the biggest climate law ever has been agreed with a broad majority in the European Parliament. Emissions trading is the core element of the Fit-for-55 package, delivering 25 times the CO2 reduction of the controversial car CO2 emissions rule for our 2030 targets. Even though there has been some discussions around CO2 cars, I don’t expect the approval in Council to be a problem in the coming week,” said the environment policy spokesman for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), Dr. Peter Liese.
Read more: Peter Liese after vote on biggest climate law ever
Next Tuesday, the European Parliament is facing a historic decision. After more than ten years of discussion, shipping is to be included in the EU’s emissions trading system. The European Parliament, the representatives of the Member States and the Commission already agreed on the details at the end of last year. "Ships often use very dirty fuels, the so-called 'bunker fuels', which can be considered as waste in the refineries. Since there are also hardly any effective gas cleaning systems, this is not only a problem for the climate, but also for air quality in cities along rivers or coastal cities. Although far-reaching measures have been implemented to reduce emissions from cars, cities sometimes fail to meet air quality standards because ships spoil the balance. For ten years, the European Parliament has thus been fighting for the inclusion of shipping in emissions trading," explained Peter Liese, environmental policy spokesman for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) and rapporteur for the reform of emissions trading system (ETS).