Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Implementing the Paris Agreement – Progress of the EU towards the at least -40% target (required under Article 21 of Regulation (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)

The Paris Agreement is a global milestone for enhancing collective action and accelerating the global transformation to a low-carbon and climate resilient society. The Commission presented its assessment of the Paris Agreement in March 2016. Based on this communication, European leaders underlined the EU's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions domestically and to increase the share of renewable energies and improve energy efficiency as agreed in October 2014. Adapting the legislation in order to implement this framework remains a priority for the EU.

The Paris Agreement will replace the approach taken under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, that contains commitments until the end of 2020. The second phase of the Kyoto Protocol serves as a bridge towards the post-2020 global climate change agreement. The EU is already delivering results of its 2020 legislation (Effort Sharing Decision, EU Emission Trading System, Monitoring Mechanism Regulation) and the EU and its Member States are well on track to jointly meet their target for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

The EU ratified the Paris Agreement on 4 October 2016, thus enabling its entry into force on 4 November 2016. On 5 October, the EU deposited its ratification instruments together with eight Member States which had already completed their national ratification procedures: Hungary, France, Austria, Malta, Germany, Portugal, Poland and Slovakia. Greece and Sweden deposited their ratification instuments later in October 2016. The remaining Member States will continue their domestic ratification processes with a view to depositing their ratification instruments as soon as possible.

ESO: Background information: Implementing the Paris Agreement - COP 22 http://www.europeansources.info/record/implementing-the-paris-agreement-cop-22/

EUR-Lex: SWD(2016)349: Technical information http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2016:349:FIN

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