29-Mar-2011 Working Group on Environmental Accounts

Climate Change:Reflection about the role of Eurostat in EU mitigation and adaptation policies

Working Group on Environmental AccountsWorking Group on Environmental Expenditure StatisticsLuxembourg, 28-30 March 2011

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

Climate Change and the European Union

“…climate change is no longer the reserved province of the environmental community. It is an economic issue. It is a development issue. It is a health issue, a migration issue, an agriculture issue, a fisheries issue, an energy and transport issue. Because climate change is going to affect all these areas of our lives, and we are going to have to adapt.”

- Jose Manuel Barroso, 21.09.2009*

Statistics play an important role in providing information about the various ways in which climate change affects us*SPEECH/09/401

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

Climate Change Mitigation

Mitigation in the climate change context is defined as: “implementing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance sinks” (IPCC Glossary*)

The most significant part of the effort is directed towards the abatement (i.e. reduction) of GHG emissions

The EU has international commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC to reduce its emissions by about 8% compared to 1990 levels for the period 2008-2012

The EU has also set a target of 20% reduction of emissions by 2020, rising to 30% if other industrialised countries also reduce emissions, endorsed in the Europe 2020 Strategy*http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/glossary/ar4-wg3.pdf

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

Monitoring of emissions The methodology for calculating the emissions is devised

internationally by the IPCC and set out in EU legislation in the Monitoring Mechanism Decision 280/2004

The emissions are calculated in many cases on the basis of existing official statistics, for example:

energy statistics (combustion of fuels) waste statistics and water statistics (e.g. solid

municipal waste in landfills and wastewater handling) agriculture statistics (livestock, land use)

In addition, to shed light on various driving forces behind emissions, in particular when looking at a sectoral approach, official statistics can be used in other areas:

transport statistics economic statistics (incl. GDP) research and development statistics

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

The role of Eurostat for mitigation Supporting policy-makers by providing high-quality underlying data

for understanding the developments in GHG emissions and the Reference Approach on emissions from energy

Providing additional data on influencing factors, which can be used for analyses (e.g. on intensity, efficiency, dependency, etc.)

Providing Air Emissions Accounts (residence vs. territory principle) on a breakdown by economic activity

Providing additional input for analyses through the use of environmentally-extended input-output tables for the “consumer perspective”, factoring in “embedded” emissions from trade, thus addressing the issue of “carbon leakage”

Providing publications that disseminate the relevant data and raise awareness on the issue

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

Implications for Environmental Accounts

Identifying mitigation expenditure on the basis of existing modules (EPE and RUM) and classifications (CEPA): How much of the environmental protection expenditure is dedicated to climate change mitigation?

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

Climate Change Adaptation Adaptation in the climate change context is defined as

“initiatives and measures to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate change effects” (IPCC Glossary*)

Adaptation is not as easy to pinpoint as mitigation because it concerns potential threats and impacts whose precise occurrence in time as well as degree of severity may not be easy to predict with 100% certainty

Adaptation is considered in terms of three elements: impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation actions/measures

The EU has issued a White Paper on Adaptation (COM/2009/147) outlining the main threats, justifying action at EU level and proposing main objectives and actions.

*http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/glossary/ar4-wg3.pdf

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

Reporting on Adaptation

Under the UNFCCC all Parties must make every effort to adopt national adaptation strategies and to report to the Convention on measures taken

DG CLIMA envisages creating new reporting requirements on adaptation under the MM Decision, covering three main aspects:- impacts- vulnerabilities- adaptation measures

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

The role of Eurostat for Adaptation

Supporting the development of the knowledge base by participating in the setting up of the Clearinghouse Mechanism (main stakeholders are DG CLIMA, the EEA and the JRC)

Providing any background data that could feed into indicators on impacts, vulnerability and measures

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

Implications for Environmental Accounts

Identifying adaptation expenditure, developed as part of or separately from the module on Environmental protection expenditure (EPE): How much of the environmental protection expenditure is dedicated to climate change adaptation? In which areas/themes?

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

The Members of the Woking Group are invited to:

Consider and react to Eurostat’s proposals for:• Identifying climate change mitigation expenditure within existing classifications and modules • Identifying adaptation expenditure • Setting up a task force to look into the two issues further

Share their national experiences with climate change related statistics, in particular with regard to policy requests for similar statistics as well as pilot studies conducted

29-Mar-2011 The role of Eurostat in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies

Thank you!

Photo taken from http://ec.europa.eu/clima/sites/campaign/index.htm