Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1044 of 8 May 2020 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to values for global warming potentials and the inventory guidelines and with regard to the Union inventory system and repealing Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 666/2014 (Text with EEA relevance)
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1044of 8 May 2020supplementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to values for global warming potentials and the inventory guidelines and with regard to the Union inventory system and repealing Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 666/2014(Text with EEA relevance)THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, amending Regulations (EC) No 663/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directives 94/22/EC, 98/70/EC, 2009/31/EC, 2009/73/EC, 2010/31/EU, 2012/27/EU and 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 2009/119/EC and (EU) 2015/652 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilOJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p. 1., and in particular Article 26(6)(b) and Article 37(7) thereof,Whereas:(1)The mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on a mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and for reporting other information at national and Union level relevant to climate change and repealing Decision No 280/2004/EC (OJ L 165, 18.6.2013, p. 13). sets out the rules for monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions under the climate policy. The provisions of that mechanism are fully integrated in Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, which repeals Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 from 1 January 2021. Within that mechanism, it is necessary to adopt values for global warming potentials and specify the inventory guidelines.(2)Concerning the global warming potentials, the 1st meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) serving as the meeting of the Parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change following the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (the "Paris Agreement") established a common metric for translating greenhouse gases to CO2 equivalents for the purposes of reporting of greenhouse gas inventories. That common metric is based on global warming potential values set out in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment ReportColumn "GWP 100-year" in Table 8.A.1 of Appendix 8.A of the report "Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change", p. 731; available at https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar5/. The values for global warming potentials should take account of that common metric.(3)The greenhouse gas inventory guidelines should be specified in accordance with international developments. In addition to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, the Member States and the Commission should take into account the modalities, procedures and guidelines for the transparency framework for action and support referred to in Article 13 of the Paris Agreement set out in the Annex to Decision 18/CMA.1 of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement ("Decision 18/CMA.1"). Moreover, Member States are encouraged to use the 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands.(4)To ensure the quality of the Union inventory, further objectives of the Union quality assurance and quality control programme should be set out.(5)In order to ensure the completeness of the Union inventory within the meaning of Decision 18/CMA.1, it is necessary to set out the methodologies and the data to be used by the Commission when preparing estimates for data missing from a Member State inventory pursuant to Article 37(5) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.(6)In order to ensure the timeliness, transparency, accuracy, consistency, comparability and completeness, of the Union inventory, it is necessary to specify the content of the initial checks carried out on the greenhouse gas inventory data submitted by the Member States. The assessment of accuracy as part of the initial checks should ensure that the Member States do not systematically over- or underestimate the actual emissions and removals in relation to Union key categories. Moreover, as the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks from the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector is an integral part of the greenhouse gas inventory reporting and due to the inclusion of the LULUCF sector in the 2030 climate target, the initial checks in the LULUCF sector should be aligned with those carried out in the other sectors. In the LULUCF sector, the reported land use and land use change activity data may be compared with information derived from the Union and Member State programmes and surveys, such as Copernicus and LUCAS.(7)The estimates to complete the missing national inventory data to compile the Union inventory are prepared in accordance with the greenhouse gas inventory guidelines. Those estimates cannot be determined without applying values for global warming potential of greenhouse gases. As the rules on global warming potentials, inventory guidelines and the Union inventory system are substantively linked, it is appropriate to include them in one Delegated Regulation.(8)In order to ensure consistency with the date of application of the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2021.(9)In accordance with Articles 57 and 58 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 is repealed with the effect from 1 January 2021, with the exception of Article 7 of that Regulation, which is to apply to the reports containing data from the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 666/2014Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 666/2014 of 12 March 2014 establishing substantive requirements for a Union inventory system and taking into account changes in the global warming potentials and internationally agreed inventory guidelines pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 26). should therefore be repealed from 1 January 2021, however, its Articles 6 and 7 should continue to have effect for the reports containing data required for the years 2019 and 2020,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: