CAN Europe is today launching a National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) Tracker tool which highlights disparities between national climate and energy commitments and the actual emission reductions and energy transition at country level.
In the aftermath of the European Commission’s announcement of intending to set a 90% net greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for the entire EU by 2040, this tool reveals that climate action on the ground does not go at the speed needed.
Despite marginal improvements compared to the previous NECPs cycle, the climate and energy trajectories towards 2030 of the new draft NECPs are not in line with the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature to 1.5°C. In many cases, as also emphasised by the Commission’s assessment last December, the draft plans even fall short of meeting the EU’s own 2030 climate and energy targets, which in itself are insufficient.
“Ambitious NECPs offer Member States a pathway to reap the rewards of accelerated climate action, setting the pace for the 2040 ambition. Weak plans and negligence in their implementation are unacceptable at this critical juncture. Member States must work together for a safe, affordable, and sustainable present and future.” – Chiara Martinelli, director at CAN Europe.
The tracker shows that most of the new plans lack key targets that are crucial for an effective implementation. This is notably the case for sectoral climate targets, as for agriculture or transport, which, while not strictly mandatory under the Governance Regulation, are fundamental for assessing the level of ambition and monitoring the implementation of the policies and measures towards the 2030 climate and energy targets.
Additionally, the tracker also highlights that the implementation of current NECPs is not always advancing at the speed Member States committed to. In their final NECP update due for this June, Member States must include strong policies and measures to pick up the pace in the deficient sectors, based on a transparent and consistent analysis of data.
“Consistency and accuracy of data are paramount for crafting effective policies and engaging stakeholders in planning and decision-making. Member States must prioritize enhancing data quality in their NECP updates to be submitted to the European Commission by June 2024 and subsequent 2025 NECP Progress Reports, ensuring alignment across national and EU-level legislation, plans, and official documents”, added Federico Mascolo, NECPs expert at CAN Europe.
Notes to the editor
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- National Energy and Climate Plans: Plans where EU Member States are required to describe, in an integrated manner, their climate and energy objectives and targets – as well as the policies and measures to achieve them until 2030 (with an outlook to 2040 and the longer term). 30 June 2024 is the due date for their final submission.
- NECP Tracker: A tool developed by CAN Europe and SEO Birdlife, together with the other 12 partners of the Together For 1.5 project, that assesses where Member States stand in the implementation of their NECPs, by comparing the most recently released data for greenhouse gas emissions (from European Environment Agency) and energy (from Eurostat) with the trajectories outlined by Member States in their previous and current NECPs drafts. For each of the countries covered, the tracker looks into overall and sectoral greenhouse gas emissions reduction pathways and energy transition indicators. The tracker shows what Member States have promised in their NECPs (and/or other sectoral documents) compared to where they currently stand in terms of climate action and energy transition. It provides key information to understand the gaps in ambition and implementation that must be addressed in the final NECPs update. The initial version of the Tracker covers 13 EU countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. The tool will be constantly updated and complemented with data as it becomes available.
- NECPs state of play: CAN Europe previously assessed draft NECPs that were published up until September 2023 and identified major flaws – emphasising the need for dramatic improvement. The proposed targets and measures outlined in the plans fell short of achieving the collective EU target. They would not make a meaningful contribution to the Paris Agreement’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions which – according to CAN Europe – should be at least 65% gross (or 76% net) in Europe by 2030. The Commission’s latest NECP assessment also highlights major ambition gaps and further vital recommendations that Member States must now take into account whilst finalising their plans in the next five months ahead of the deadline in June this year. Time to step up national climate action – an assessment of the draft National Energy and Climate Plans updates.
- More details on how accelerated climate action before 2030 and a net-zero goal by 2040 now would yield economic benefits of at least €1 trillion by 2030 can be found in CAN Europe’s recent report ‘Paris Pact Payoff: Speeding up the green transition for socio-economic co-benefits’.
