Beyond Kyoto: The EU's Contribution to a More Sustainable World Economy

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/eulj.12041
• Published date: 01 July 2013
• Date: 01 July 2013
• Author: Beatriz Pérez de las Heras

Beyond Kyoto: The EU’s Contribution to

a More Sustainable World Economy

Beatriz Pérez de las Heras*

Abstract: The EU has been leading the world fight against climate change since the late

1990s. This activism on the international scene has served as a stimulus for a common

action against global warming that has, in the last 10 years, become a world referent and

the central issue in the EU environmental policy. The most relevant initiative is the

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading scheme (ETS), adopted in fulfilment of the

Kyoto Protocol. In 2008, the EU adopted a new set of measures on climate and energy

for the post-Kyoto period (2013–2020). This new legal framework, coupled with the

provisions introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon and the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy, represents

the EU’s commitment to promote a more sustainable European and world economic

model.

I Introduction

The EU’s action against climate change, initiated in the early 1980s, has become a

priority and a major issue of foreign environmental policy since the year 2000. The

most significant measure the EU has adopted so far in this field is no doubt the

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading scheme (ETS). Currently applied to carbon

dioxide (CO2) emissions, the ETS constitutes the first and most important interna-

tional system imposing maximum limits or ‘caps’ on emissions, adopted in direct

compliance with the Kyoto Protocol.

According to this international instrument, at the end of 1997, 37 developed coun-

tries committed themselves to reducing their GHG emissions by 5.2% below 1990

levels during the period 2008–2012. The then 15 Member States of the EU jointly

volunteered to go beyond this multilateral commitment and forced themselves as EU

to reduce their emissions by 8%. Thereafter, the new Member States incorporated in

2004 and 2007 have also engaged in commitments pursuant to Kyoto, except for

Cyprus and Malta, which are not included in Annex B of the Protocol.

Besides the fight against global warming and its effects, in these first years of the

21st century, the EU is also facing a growing dependency on solid fuels (oil and gas),

whose main supply sources are outside its territory. On the other hand, and within the

context of global climate governance, since 2009 the international community has

* Professor of European Law , Chair Jean Monnet in Interdisciplinary Studies on European Integration,

Senior Researcher of the European Integration Research Team (University of Deusto), Bilbao, Spain.

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European Law Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4, July 2013, pp. 577–593.

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been trying to provide itself with a legally binding framework that can replace the

Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period expired on 31 December 2012.

The combination of all these challenges determined the EU to adopt a new legal

framework in 2008. Fort the first time, this legal framework integrated the fight

against climate change and the promotion of cleaner, more efficient energy for the

post-2012 period. The whole raft of new measures does not only represent the EU’s

commitment to a low carbon, more energy efficient European economy but also its

proposal to the international community in favour of the implementation of a more

sustainable world economy.

Consistent with these impulses, the new post-Lisbon ‘Europe 2020’ strategy incor-

porates the fight against climate change as a key element in the activity of the EU in

favour of sustainable growth, both inside and outside the European territory.

This paper first analyses the measures the EU has adopted in order to fight climate

change during the first mandatory period of the Kyoto Protocol, emphasising the

influence of this legally binding instrument both regarding domestic actions and

internationally developed policies.The new goals and competences introduced by the

Treaty of Lisbon intend the EU to reaffirm its leading position gained in the past

years. On the basis of this development, this paper then stresses the influence the EU

itself is exerting in the establishment of a new global climate order. The EU’s strategy

aimed at encouraging a more sustainable world economy is shaped by the adoption of

post-2012 legislation and the integration of sustainable development as a horizontal

element in the rest of its policies.

II The EU Climate Change Policy during the First Mandatory Period of the

Kyoto Protocol: Beyond International Commitments

The ETS represents the cornerstone of the EU’s action against global warming. At the

same time, it proves to be a mainstay of climate governance. Within the EU, the ETS

is the key tool in the efforts aimed at complying with the commitment to reduce the

emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

At an international level, and through its development cooperation policy, the EU

has promoted a whole series of initiatives aimed at helping developing countries to

fight the effects of climate change. Both the actions developed and those in force place

the EU at the forefront of the dialogue North–South in the fight against global

warming.

The new constitutive provisions concerning the environment introduced by the

Treaty of Lisbon do nothing but reaffirm the EU’s intention to remain at the fore-

front of the world fight against climate change through its contribution to sustainable

development.

A The ETS as the Key Tool of the EU Climate Change Policy

a) 2005–2012: A Strongly Decentralised Trade Emission System

The ETS is the most important mitigation tool the EU has at its disposal to reduce the

GHG industrial emissions. This mechanism was introduced by the EU in October

2003 on the basis of Directive 2003/87,1that is, almost a year and a half before the

1[1983] OJ L 275/32.

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