Fri. Oct 11th, 2024

Briefing on the EU Environment Council in Luxembourg on 14 October 2024

Oct 10, 2024 , , , , ,

Brussels, 10 October 2024

Chairs:

  • István Nagy, Hungarian Minister for Agriculture
  • Anikó Raisz, Hungarian Minister of State for Environmental Affairs and the Circular Economy 

European Commission representative:

  • EU Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra

At the Environment Council meeting, ministers will be invited to approve two sets of conclusions: one on the preparations for the UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP29) and one on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16). These conclusions will serve as the EU’s negotiating mandate in view of the upcoming UN conferences. Ministers will then exchange views on the preparation for the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on plastic pollution and on the state of play and way forward on the implementation of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. Under other business, the Hungarian presidency and the Commission will debrief ministers on the 69th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC69), which took place in Lima this September. Over lunch, EU environment ministers will informally discuss the climate and environmental policy aspects of the Draghi report.

 

COP29 Climate change: Council conclusions

EU environment ministers will be invited to agree on Council conclusions on preparations for the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. COP29 will take place in Baku (Azerbaijan) from 11 to 22 November 2024. The Council conclusions will serve as the mandate for the EU and its member states at the COP29 negotiations.

Every year, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meets to determine the climate ambition and responsibilities, and to identify and assess climate measures with special regards to the aim to progress on the objectives laid down in the Paris Agreement.

The EU and its member states are parties to the Convention, which includes 198 parties (197 countries plus the European Union) in total. The rotating presidency of the Council, together with the European Commission, represent the EU and convey its positions at these international climate summits.

Last year’s COP28 led to the adoption of the first global stocktake to address climate change in line with the Paris Agreement and to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.

The stocktake called on the parties to take actions towards achieving, on a global scale, the tripling of renewable energy capacity and the doubling of energy efficiency improvements by 2030, including measures to transition away from fossil fuels.

COP29 will be based on two pillars:

Enhance ambition, ensuring that all parties commit to ambitious national plans and transparency, including the finalisation of the first enhanced transparency framework

Enable action, reflecting on the critical role of finance in turning ambition into action, including the adoption of a new global collective quantified climate finance goal (NCQG).

 

COP16 Biodiversity: Council conclusions

The Council will approve conclusions in view of the Conference of Parties on the Convention on biological diversity (COP16) and the meetings on the Cartagena protocol and the Nagoya protocol, to be held in Cali, Colombia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024. The conclusions will serve as the EU’s general negotiating position at the meetings.

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature at the Rio ‘Earth Summit’ in 1992 and entered into force in December 1993. The EU and its Member States are parties to the Convention.

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity has two protocols, the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization, which entered into force in 2003 and 2014 respectively.

The Conference of Parties (COP) to these agreements takes place every two years.

COP15 on Biodiversity (2022) agreed on the new Global Diversity Framework, which includes 23 targets aimed at halting biodiversity loss and a pledge to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030, phasing out subsidies that harm biodiversity and mobilising at least USD 200 billion per year to fund biodiversity.

COP16 will be the first Conference of Parties on biodiversity since the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework. During COP16, governments will review the progress made to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework, including the alignment of their national biodiversity strategies with the framework. COP16 is also expected to finalise the multilateral mechanism on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources.

 

Global plastics treaty

The annual production of plastics and the generation of plastic waste have doubled in less than 20 years. Moreover, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), global plastic production is predicted to almost triple by 2060.

The United Nations Environment Assembly adopted at its fifth session (UNEA-5) resolution 5/14 ‘End Plastic Pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument’. That resolution established an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee tasked with developing a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC).

The negotiations started in November 2022. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee will meet for the fifth round of negotiations (INC-5) from 25 November to 1 December 2024.

On 25 September 2024, the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, of which the EU is a member, adopted a ministerial joint statement for INC-5, reiterating their strong and united commitment to finalising negotiations on an ambitious and effective treaty. They emphasised the need for a treaty that is based on a comprehensive approach which addresses the full life cycle of plastics, including design, production, consumption, and end of life.

EU environment ministers will exchange views in preparation for the INC-5 and provide political guidance to the Hungarian presidency with the aim to further finetune the EU’s negotiating position for INC-5. The Hungarian presidency, alongside the European Commission, will present the EU and member states’ position on fighting plastic pollution during the INC-5 meeting.

 

EU chemicals strategy

Chemicals are essential to modern living standards and the economy. Yet chemical substances can be harmful to people and the environment.

On 14 October 2020, the European Commission adopted the EU chemicals strategy for sustainability, setting a new long-term vision for the EU chemicals policy. The strategy aims to achieve a toxic-free environment with a higher level of protection of human health and the environment, while strengthening the competitiveness of the EU’s chemicals industry. The EU chemicals strategy was endorsed by the Council on 14 March 2021.

Ministers will take stock of the implementation of the EU chemicals strategy and will provide guidance on the next steps on how to address emerging challenges in this field (in public session).

Other business

Under other business, the presidency and the Commission will brief ministers on the outcome of the 69th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC69), which took place in Lima (Peru) from 23 to 27 September 2024.

 

Decarbonisation for a competitive Europe

Over lunch, ministers will hold an informal discussion (non-public session) on the climate and environmental policy aspects of the report on the future of European competitiveness, presented by Mario Draghi on 9 September 2024, including recommendations on how to accelerate decarbonisation by using clean technologies.

Source – Background brief – Environment Council of 14 October 2024

 

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