Decision (EU) 2022/591 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030

What it is

to establish a general Union environmental action programme for the period up to 31 December 2030 (the 8 th EAP). PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: the report on the ‘European Environment - State and Outlook 2020’, presented by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on 4 December 2019, identified the unprecedented scale and urgency of the environmental, climate and sustainability challenges facing Europe today. These challenges require immediate and concerted action and urgent systemic solutions. The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report by Grace O'SULLIVAN (Greens/EFA, IE) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030. As a reminder, the Commission published its proposal for a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030 (8th EAP) in 2020, a year that was marked by a global health and environment emergency in the form of a devastating pandemic and a deepening ecological crisis. The proposed Decision sets out a general action programme in the field of the environment for the period up to 31 December 2030 (8th Environment Action Programme). It lays down its priority objectives, identifies enabling conditions as well as actions necessary for the achievement of the enabling conditions. It sets a monitoring framework to measure and evaluate progress of the Union and its Member States towards the achievement of the priority objectives. It also establishes a governance mechanism to ensure full achievement of the priority objectives. The 8th EAP aims at accelerating the transition to a climate-neutral, sustainable, non-toxic, resource-efficient, renewable energy-based, resilient and competitive circular economy in a just, equitable and inclusive way, and at protecting, restoring and improving the quality of the environment, including air, water and soil, as well as protecting and restoring biodiversity and ecosystems. It builds on and promotes the achievement of the objectives of the European Green Deal and its initiatives. It is proposed that the 8th EAP should have the following six interlinked thematic priority objectives , to be achieved by 2030 at the latest: 1) swift and predictable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, enhancement of removals by natural sinks in the Union, to attain the 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction target, in line with its climate and environment objectives whilst ensuring a just transition that leaves no one behind; 2) continuous progress in enhancing and mainstreaming adaptive capacity, including on the basis of ecosystem approaches, strengthening resilience and adaptation and reducing vulnerability of the environment and of society as well as all sectors of the economy to climate change, while improving prevention of, and preparedness for, natural disasters; 3) advancing towards a sustainable well-being economy that gives back to the planet…

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