The Greenhouse Gas Effort Sharing Decision
UPDATE: May 2011
In January 2011 Member States voted to restrict the use of HFC-23 and adipic acid N2O credits in the EU ETS. Denmark has suggested that Member States should commit not to use these credits in the Effort Sharing Decision, which will ensure consistency between Member States and ETS participants.
Chris Huhne, former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, agreed that the UK will join Denmark in committing not to use these restricted credits
About the Green House Gas Effort Sharing Decision
The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Effort Sharing Decision was agreed as part of the EU 2020 Climate and Energy package of measures in December 2008.
The Decision sets EU Member State targets for reductions in those sectors of their economies not covered by the EU Emissions Trading System – in the most part residential and transport. For the UK, this equates to a reduction in emissions in the non-ETS equivalent to 16 percent below 2005 levels, by 2020.
The Effort-Sharing decision includes:
- each member State has a percentage reduction target for 2020, which range from -20% to +20% on 2005 levels, depending on GDP per capita (-16% for the UK)
- a binding annual trajectory from 2013 to 2020, keeping the EU on track to meet emissions reductions targets over the eight-year period
- provisions to change member state targets in the event of an international agreement
- a compliance factor against the annual trajectory (set at 1.08), putting a price on any failure by member states to meet their targets by forcing that Member State to abate more the next year
- monitoring and evaluation provisions
- flexibility mechanisms to help Member States meet their targets cost effectively. These include:
- the ability to bank and borrow against the annual trajectory
- use of project credits, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): Member State access to international project credits to meet their targets is limited (annually) to 3% of Member States’ 2005 emissions in the non-ETS
- the ability to trade both project credit allowance and domestic over-compliance between Member States.
Member States themselves decide which policy measures they will use to meet their targets. In the UK, this will be governed by the Climate Change Act, the Energy Act, the Renewable Energy Strategy and the Low Carbon Transition Plan.