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On 14/07/2021, the European Commission published the FitFor55 climate package, consisting of a total of twelve draft regulations and revisions of legislation. Most of the proposals concern the decarbonisation of the transport, heavy industry, and energy sectors. The Commission also plans to achieve full carbon neutrality in the agricultural, forestry and land use sectors by 2035. According to the European Commission, the agricultural sector should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20%, while the remaining emissions would be offset by enhanced carbon sequestration in land use and forestry (LULUCF). The European Union should also increase carbon sequestration by 2030 from the current 268 million tonnes to 310 million tonnes. The Commission should therefore present a new carbon certification scheme by the end of 2021 (provisionally in the third quarter of 2021). The Commission should present a legislative proposal for carbon certification at the end of 2022. According to the Commission, carbon agriculture should also be supported from CAP resources, starting in 2023.
More information is available here and here.

The FitFor55 package, presented by the European Commission on 14/07/2021, also includes a proposal for a regulation establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). The CBAM mechanism will introduce carbon prices for imports of selected products from all countries outside the EU and will become fully operational in 2026. The aim is to prevent relocation of production to third countries and to prevent carbon leakage. CBAM will initially apply only to cement, iron, steel, aluminium, and fertilizers. Under the proposed measure, a charge would be levied at the borders in proportion to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contained in certain goods and the amount of carbon emitted during the production process of the products to which they apply. Once the scheme was launched in 2026, companies would receive certificates corresponding to the amount of emissions they contain in the goods they import into the EU, and enforcement provisions would be put in place to address the practices introduced to circumvent the Regulation. According to the Commission's plans, importers of goods will have to register either individually or through a representative with the national authorities, where they will also be able to purchase CBAM certificates. To be able to import CBAM-covered goods into the EU, they must report by 31 May each year the amount of goods and emissions involved in those goods imported into the EU in the previous year and submit the corresponding number of CBAM certificates. This mechanism, which aims to balance the price of carbon between domestic products and imports, will be integrated into the EU's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) under the draft regulation. The price of the certificates will be calculated depending on the average weekly auction price of EU ETS allowances expressed in EUR / t CO₂ emitted. CBAM should motivate importers in third countries to take measures comparable to EU ambitions. The transitional period for the introduction of CBAM should apply from 01/01/2023, lasting three years. From 2023, importers should start reporting emissions from imported products, and from 2026 payment obligations should apply. The European Commission launched a public consultation on the draft regulation on 15/07/2021, which will be open until 12/09/2021.
The consultation is available here, proposal for a regulation here.

The FitFor55 package, presented by the European Commission on 14/07/2021, also includes a revision of the Renewable Energy Directive. The European Commission proposes to increase the binding target for renewable energy at EU level to 40% by 2030. All Member States should contribute to this target through reinforced ambitions in the national energy and climate plans. The Commission is also working to increase the consumption of advanced biofuels to 2.2% in transport. The Commission plans to ban the extraction of woody biomass for energy production from primary forests, peatlands, and wetlands, and should only be allowed to be obtained from forests with high biodiversity. This proposal is criticized by environmental organizations, which refuse to see wood burning as a climate-friendly source of energy. In addition, according to them, the revised text does not contain any further restrictions on the use of food and feed crops to produce biofuels and biogas. The European Commission launched a public consultation on the draft regulation on 16/07/2021, which will be open until 14/09/2021.
The consultation is available here, proposal for a regulation here.

The EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) adopted its opinion on the EU methane strategy on 13/07/2021. COMAGRI supported the monitoring of emissions from livestock production and the introduction and promotion of technological innovations, rather than the reduction of livestock herds. The opinion was adopted by 36 votes to 8, with 2 abstentions. The EP's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) has the main competence for drafting the European Parliament's opinion on the methane strategy, and COMENVI should now take the COMAGRI opinion into account. The vote on the own opinion in COMENVI is scheduled for 20-21/09/2021, the plenary of the European Parliament should decide on the opinion in October or November 2021. According to initial information, COMENVI will consider introducing binding targets for the reduction of methane from the agricultural sector, in particular livestock production, and will also consider supporting herd reduction in the EU.
More information is available here.

The European Commission adopted a new EU Forestry Strategy for 2030 on 16/07/2021. The strategy builds on the EU Biodiversity Strategy and contributes to the FitFor55 package presented by the Commission on 14/07/2021, which aims to reduce greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030. The strategy also aims to strengthen carbon sequestration. The new forestry strategy sets out a vision and concrete measures to increase the area and quality of forests in the EU and strengthen their protection, restoration, and resilience. The proposed measures will increase carbon sequestration, the strategy will also focus on strict protection of primary forests, restoration of degraded forests, and sustainable forest management. The strategy promotes forest management practices that are as climate- and biodiversity-friendly as possible, emphasizes the need to keep the use of wood biomass within sustainability and promotes the efficient use of wood resources. The strategy also envisages the development of payment systems for forest owners and managers for the provision of alternative ecosystem services, e.g., by keeping parts of their forests intact.
More information is available here.