Making Sense of the LULUCF Regulation: Much Ado About Nothing?

Abstract

The 2030 European Union (EU) climate and energy policy framework includes for the first time a dedicated instrument concerning greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and removals from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF). Regulation 2018/841 (LULUCF Regulation) marks a significant expansion of EU climate and energy acquis, with ramifications in other sensitive areas, such as agriculture, renewable energy from wood biomass and forestry. The Regulation has had a particularly troubled negotiation history and has already been at the centre of litigation before the Court of Justice of the EU. This article analyses the implications of the LULUCF Regulation for the EU’s climate ambition in the next decade, trying to make sense of its troubled history and of its projected impacts, with a view to ascertaining whether the scepticism with which it has been welcomed is justified.