1.1.9.1.1 The Climate and Energy Package

In January 2008 the European Commission proposed mandatory legislation to implement the 20-20-20 targets. It was called the Climate and Energy package. It was approved by the European Parliament and European Council in December 2008 and came into force in June 2009.1 There are six legislative complementary acts addressing the climate and energy: i) directive on the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 21% in 2020 compared to 2005 levels; ii) decision to reduce by 10% the greenhouse gas emissions from non- ETS sources (e.g. road and sea transport, buildings, services, agriculture and smaller industrial installations) between 2013 and 2020; iii) directive for the carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage technology (CCS); iv) directive on mandatory national targets to achieve a EU average of at least 20% renewable energy by 2020; v) regulation on an average target of 130g CO2/km for new passenger cars by 2012 and of 95 g CO2/km by 2020 through improvements in vehicle motor technology; and vi) directive to reduce by 2020 up to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions produced throughout the life cycle of transport fuels (extraction or cultivation, including land-use changes, transport and distribution, processing and combustion).

CSR is part of the priorities and commitments of the EU 2020 Strategy, and part of the measurable targets of this strategy. The EU maintains its commitment in wording e.g. incentivizing, supporting and promoting CSR best practices, but again there are no mandatory commitments for the disclosure of non-financial information and consequently, no accountability for not keeping CSR commitments. Sustainability reporting is left out of the EU 2020 Strategy.