Latvia’s Ministry of Climate and Energy, after public consultations, has submitted to the government the Climate law and the Transport Energy law.
The Climate law aims at promoting the negative impact of climate change in the country; decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent by 2030, compared to the 2005, in different sectors such as transport, agriculture, industry and waste management.
The second bill submitted aims at promoting green and sustainable transport to improve the air quality of cities and reduce GHG emissions. Currently, around 37 per cent of the Latvian car fleet is made of outdated vehicles. Obsolete transport consumes more fuel, thus also generating more GHG emissions. In fact, the transport sector is the second largest emitter of GHG in Latvia (31 per cent).
In the new draft, it is expected that file suppliers will increase the share of renewable energy in their portfolio, using biofuels, biogas and electricity.
A new support programme has been agreed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the promotion of electric car sales. At the same time, the Ministry is also working with the Modernisation Fund to ensure financing to entrepreneurs and local government institutions.
