CAN Europe’s response to the European Grids Package call for Evidence
CAN Europe welcomes the attention being given to our electricity network, and sees this as an opportunity to raise EU ambition and support a 100%
30/07/2025
Funding Fairer Futures is an initiative dedicated to revitalising the climate movement and supporting its transformation to become truly inclusive by ensuring that the needs and perspectives of diverse stakeholders, including often marginalised communities, are heard and reflected in climate action.
Funding Fairer Futures has two goals:
(1) supporting civil society organisations and groups in delivering impactful awareness-raising, campaigning, advocacy, and citizen engagement projects that create more just and sustainable futures for all.
(2) raising awareness of climate justice issues among citizens, empower them to take action, and promote gender-transformative actions and policies.
It aims to do so by providing funding and opportunities for capacity building and sharing, networking and campaigning to climate, youth, local communities, disabled people, and ecofeminist NGOs and groups.
Funding Fairer Futures gathers six partners (Climate Action Network Europe, ECOLISE, CBM Ireland, Climate Action Network International, Generation Climate Europe and Women Engage for a Common Future) who are committed to building more inclusive, accessible and representative spaces in the climate movement. For this, the initiative prioritises gender equality, disability inclusion, youth leadership, and the empowerment of marginalised communities.
The LIFE TogetherFor1.5 is a PAN-European project which aims to align the EU’s climate action with the 1.5°C objective of the Paris Agreement, building on climate and energy policy opportunities at the national and EU level.
We are
14 climate and environment NGOs based in thirteen European countries working together to put Europe on track for achieving a safe and stable climate for current and future generations. We are committed to push our governments to accelerate climate action in our countries and to keep them accountable for their actions.
We want
We believe that tackling dangerous climate change is everybody’s business and governments above all must lead the way in drastically accelerating climate action all over Europe in the next couple of years.
This year, EU countries will put forward their concrete climate and energy pathways for 2030 that should deeply transform our systems. These plans are called National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and will cover the period 2021-2030. This gives us seven years to put Europe on track towards achieving climate neutrality.
There is no mystery whatsoever on how to get there. All the cards are in our hands and now it’s time to play our winning hand to secure the jackpot: ensure we all benefit from this transition, go for real emissions cuts, end the addiction to fossil fuels, supercharge the renewable revolution, stop wasting energy, protect nature, and push the fast-forward button.
As a rich economy and a major historic emitter, the EU should and can achieve emissions reductions of at least 65% by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2040.
We do
The upcoming National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) revision, taking place between 2023 and 2024, is a fundamental opportunity for EU Member States to set things right – to bring NECPs much closer to their real, transformative potential. We will monitor, assess, advocate and push for the right measures.
The LIFE TogetherFor1.5 project aims to align the EU’s climate action with the 1.5°C objective of the Paris Agreement, building on three climate and energy policy opportunities: the finalisation and implementation of the Fit for 55 legislative package and RePowerEU; the revision of National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs); and the revision of the national Long-Term Strategies (LTS).
These EU and national level policy processes are major societal and economic transformation opportunities that can significantly accelerate the EU’s transition to climate neutrality, also thanks to the resources available via the EU funding instruments.
Project period September 2022 – September 2025.
Countries covered and involved NGOs.
Belgium: BBL, Bulgaria: Za Zemiata, Czech Republic: Centre for Transport and Energy (CDE), Croatia: DOOR, Denmark: Danish 92-Gruppen, Estonia: Estonian Fund for Nature, France: RAC France, Germany: Germanwatch, Hungary: MTVSz, Poland: Institute for Sustainable Development, Portugal: ZERO, Slovenia: FOCUS, Spain: SEO/Birdlife. All project partners are members of the pan-European NGO network Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, whose secretariat coordinates the project.
Website: https://1point5.caneurope.org/
“Together for 100% Renewable Europe: Prosperous. Sustainable. For everyone” is an initiative of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe jointly with members across Europe.
The campaign brings forces in our Network to work together for a faster but also inclusive, fair, and people participatory rollout of solar and wind energy which at the same time supports protection and restoration of biodiversity.
We aim for a fair and sustainable transition to a 100% renewable energy system, specifically contributing to accelerating the solar and wind deployment at the pace and scale required by the climate crisis. We ask policy makers both at EU and national levels to take bold and forward-looking actions to build a prosperous and sustainable energy future for everyone, fully based on renewable energy. On the pathway to cover the entire energy demand of all economic sectors by renewable energy by 2040 (heat, transport, industry), all our electricity should come from renewable energy sources already by 2035.
Please see more info on campaign landing page
The Renewables Heating Campaign is an initiative of CAN Europe Network to promote sustainable renewable heating solutions for all homes across Europe.
This is a solution-oriented campaign, co-created with members and working closely with partners.
We aim to support change at national level for the full decarbonisation of the heating sector based on energy efficiency and renewables. Campaigning at the national level is key to raise awareness and strengthen the public discourse on the importance of moving away from fossil fuels and inefficient systems.
This is a pan-European campaign, so we will facilitate and support the participation of European NGOs from countries outside the European Union.
Please see more info on the campaign page
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a huge obstacle for the clean energy transition. To tackle the climate crisis we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. But governments that phase out coal, end gas production, or stop oil pipelines can be sued by corporations in private courts and be held liable for billions in damages. The ECT makes it possible.
With this petition, we demand from European governments, parliaments and EU institutions:
Pull out of the Energy Charter Treaty and stop its expansion to other countries! The treaty allows coal, oil and gas corporations to obstruct the transition to a clean energy system. Disarm fossil fuel firms now, so they can no longer impede urgent climate action! Visit the campaign page.
The Beyond Fossil Fuels campaign was launched in March 2023, with the goal of ensuring fossil fuels are eliminated from the continent’s power sector by 2035, and are replaced with a mix of renewable energy, electrification, smart consumption and energy efficiency measures.
The BFF secretariat looks to build on their successful Europe Beyond Coal campaign which in six years has seen 17 European countries commit to exit coal by 2030 or earlier. Now, working with over 40 civil society organisations from across Europe, the BFF campaign will work to ensure governments, businesses and financial institutions work to eliminate fossil fuels from our power systems while providing solutions that benefit communities, nature and the climate.
Beyond Fossil Fuels supports and coordinates work with civil society groups working across the European continent; including the European Union, the Western Balkans, Turkey, the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Moldova and Ukraine, and is overseen by a Campaign Steering Committee from its office in Berlin.
The Coalition for Higher Ambition is a unique and unprecedented gathering of businesses, investor groups, local and regional authorities, trade unions and civil society groups, standing together to advocate for the EU ramp up its climate action. Organisations joining the Coalition for Higher Ambition represent major stakeholders from across Europe and a cross section of the European economy, demonstrating the breadth and depth of the call for climate leadership.
In order to address the climate crisis, CAN Europe joins forces with a wide array of stakeholders, representing some of the leading economic and social actors at the forefront of driving the much-needed transition in Europe and ensures the dialogue among these climate progressive non-state actors in the Coalition for Higher Ambition.
Latest Publications
(Pročitaj strip na srpskom/ read the comic in Serbian)
Coaly has been supplying humans with energy for decades. Sunny and Windy are ready to take over, because humans have developed the means to use their abundant supply of energy.
Want to know what happens then?
Browse 6 episodes that take us to year 2050 – a date set to achieve climate-neutrality.
4. Time flies 5. Anything is possible! 6. What if…
NOTE: Pause the videos to read the story of the comic.
The first mural to absorb air pollution, painted in a school in Belgrade
In late September 2022 the campaign descended amongst the general public in a primary school in Belgrade. In an attempt to reach the wider public we engaged with the popular brand Marka Žvaka who recorded painting of the mural and workshops during which we engaged with pupils and teachers, explaining coal phaseout, just transition and the need to live in balance with our planet Earth. Watch the video ‘Our children against pollution’ and listen to what our children think about the future.
About the campaign
CAN Europe developed #EnergySuperheroes comic in an attempt to explain its policy work to the wider community across the Western Balkans.
The issues we work on are often complex and technical, comprehensible only to a limited number of officials, although relevant for the wellbeing of the entire region and its communities. As such we have been looking for ways to make our joint voice and policy asks heard beyond the policy and expert circles in the WB region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia).
With this in mind CAN Europe WB team developed a comic that will convey our key policy asks through a story about the potential to use renewable energy sources, namely Windy and Sunny, and all other aspects that need to follow the energy transition.
Taking into account the just transition aspect Coaly must not be left out, as a way of paying respect to the coal miners who have been providing energy for the past half century, but also to point to the need for alternatives to coal and ensuring a just transition away from coal.
Regional issues are very similar when it comes to air pollution, local communities in coal regions who depend on coal extraction business, lack of infrastructure and legal incentives for uptake of renewable energy sources, inefficient state institutions and corrupt governments across the Western Balkans. As such the messages created have a regional focus.
All episodes of the comics are available in English, Serbian, Macedonian and Albanian languages, and can be used on the basis of Creative Commons principles. The comics can be found on all social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn) via #EnergySuperheros tag.
Follow Balkans Beyond Coal on Twitter and subscribe to the Newsletter for latest updates from the civil society organisations campaigning for coal phaseout. For more information you can reach out to Communications Coordinator for Southeastern Europe
The UNIFY project aims to facilitate the effective and early transition of Member States across Europe to low carbon and resilient economies by unifying three key policy opportunities: programming of EU funds, National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and national and the EU’s Long Term Strategies.
Through its targeted activities in 10 Member States and at the EU level, the Unify project showcases that if these three key EU policy processes are consistent, ambitious and in line with the Paris Agreement objectives, they could help all EU Member States to step up climate action.
Through underlining the importance of alignment between the national and the EU’s long term strategies, National energy and climate plans and the local level climate and energy action plans (SECAPs), the UNIFY project reminds the importance of consistency in climate action at different levels.
Besides, Unify project builds processes and capacity to monitor the programming of EU funds, providing targeted inputs at the regional, national, and sub-national level to ensure that Partnership Agreements and Operational Funds support the implementation and increased ambition in National Energy and Climate Plans at the national level and Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans at the municipal level.
The project covers Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and replicated in many other EU Member States through CAN Europe members. For more information, please visit the project website.
Disclaimer: The Unify project has received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Union. The information and views set out on this website are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission.
Behind the notion of “externalities”, the often overlooked, real costs of coal power production are paid with human life, social, economic and cultural assets, ecosystem destruction and climate change. With its coal production facilities and three coal-fired power plants, the province of Muğla in Turkey has become an open-air laboratory that exposes the impacts and dangers of coal, and reveals its alternatives.
CAN Europe conducted a comprehensive study that indicates that we can put an end to the costs that are generally defined as “externalities” and disregarded in the coal-based energy production policies and investments, pointing out to available alternatives.
Raporu buradan indirin: Kömürün Gerçek Bedeli – Muğla
Full report in English: The Real Costs of Coal Muğla_Full Report_Final
The EU’s recovery package, combined with its 2021-2027 EU budget totals € 1.8 trillions and is the largest financial package ever (in the EU) and aims to stimulate the economy during the ongoing pandemic. At the same time EU’s financial support should go for implementing the objectives of the EU Green Deal in tackling the climate crisis and building more sustainable, resilient societies and economies.
The EU Cash Awards campaign, looks at how Member States and regions are planning to use the available funding through a whole range of plans they have to develop to get access to EU funding, namely the Structural Funds, the Just Transition Fund, and the Recovery and Resilience funds.
Based on draft plans published by governments, or leaked documents, the EU Cash Awards Campaign highlights good, bad and ugly measures in these spending plans. The campaign aims to encourage Member States, regions, and the European Commission to take decisive steps in the finalisation of these spending plans by excluding all climate and environmental harmful measures and promoting solutions to tackle the climate and environmental crises.
The next step of the EU cash awards campaign is to put all measures to a public vote to identify the top good, bad and ugly measures elected by Europeans that Member States try to finance through the EU purse. The results of the public voting will be announced in an Awards Ceremony on 29 April.
Visit the campaign website: https://www.cashawards.eu/
People’s Climate Case is initiated by ten families from Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Kenya, Fiji, and the Saami Youth Association Sáminuorra whose homes, livelihoods, traditional family occupation and culture are affected by climate change. In this historic climate case, they are taking the EU institutions to court to protect their fundamental rights and to prevent dangerous climate change.
The plaintiffs are accompanied by a broad range of NGOs, scientists and citizens who firmly believe that the EU can and must be more ambitious regarding its 2030 climate target. The scientists from the scientific think tank Climate Analytics provide interdisciplinary scientific background to the People’s Climate Case to show clear evidence on how the families are impacted by climate change and indicate what is doable to further reduce emissions far beyond the current EU’s climate target.
Climate Action Network, Europe’s largest NGO coalition working on climate and energy issues, with over 170 member organisations in more than 38 European countries, representing over 1500 NGOs, is also supporting this courageous action of plaintiff families and recognises the urgency to act for protecting their fundamental rights.
Visit People’s Climate Case website.
We are on a mission to avert climate change – and that means cutting carbon. But did you know that the EU law that regulates industrial pollution does not address carbon and climate change? We need to change this.
Factories, power plants, intensive livestock rearing and refineries produce more than half of EU carbon emissions. We need strong laws on what comes out of factory chimneys and power plant smokestacks. Rules like these will be game-changers for our lungs and for the planet.
And the Industrial Emissions Directive is crucial for this!
Sign the petition: https://www.cleantheindustry.eu/
The EU should not continue spending hundreds of millions of Euros of tax-payers money into expanding fossil gas pipelines when the aim should be for our energy system to become 100% renewables based.
The EU Commission is drafting its fifth priority list (the “PCI list”) for energy infrastructure projects that should get access to EU funding and benefit of an accelerated implementation. 74 fossil gas mega-projects applied for a spot on this list, but none of these projects must get any EU support, because of multiple reasons. Read more about the projects and the specific issues we identified here.
The main discredit is that fossil gas is a climate-wrecking fossil fuel and cannot play a role in our future energy system if we want to keep dangerous climate change at bay. Burning fossil gas does not only emit carbon dioxide but also methane, which has a climate impact that is 86 times higher than CO2 and hence makes tackling fossil gas an important element of any actions that address the climate urgency. Supporting fossil gas projects means losing precious time and money, while we need to go for a 100% renewables based energy system with energy efficiency at its heart.
The European Commission has promised several times that the next and current PCI list will be made “European Green Deal compatible”. However, alignment with the European Green Deal also means that the PCI list cannot include any fossil gas projects. We need real proof and real actions for that promise to be credible.
Until 8 April you have the chance to have your say!
Tell the EU Commission that no fossil gas project should be included on the priority list by signing the petition!
CAN Europe welcomes the attention being given to our electricity network, and sees this as an opportunity to raise EU ambition and support a 100%
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CAN Europe empowers civil society organisations to influence the design and development of effective climate change policy in Europe, both in the European Union as well as in its Member States and in European countries outside the EU.
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