Today, the Unify consortium publishes “Taking Stock & Planning Ahead: National Energy and Climate Plans as a tool to achieve climate safety and energy security“

To do its fair and science-based share under the Paris Agreement, the EU must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. This requires an unprecedented level of climate action in this decade – especially in light of the current, fossil-fueled energy crisis stemming from the Russian war against Ukraine.

In this context, National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) can be a powerful instrument in the EU’s contribution to limit global warming to 1.5°C, while at the same time ensuring energy security and energy justice across the EU. 

Coming after three years of monitoring the NECPs drafting and early implementation, and drawing from national experiences from 10 different EU countries – Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain – this LIFE Unify report provides a stocktake of the current state of play of NECPs ambition and implementation and provides 5 key recommendations for Member States to develop ambitious NECPs in their upcoming revision process between 2023 and 2024. 

These key recommendations can be summarised as follows: 

  1. Increase the level of ambition of 2030 climate and energy targets
  2. Develop robust policies, measures and plans to deliver on ambition
  3. Back up policies with climate-proof and fair investments, shifting away from fossil fuels
  4. Improve public participation and transparency
  5. Ensure consistency across policies and towards climate neutrality

The Annex to this paper, comprising 10 individual country accounts, offers valuable insights about specific national contexts and more detailed, country-specific analyses, assessments and recommendations.