Monday

4th Dec 2023

Member states' plans 'not enough' to hit EU climate goals

  • National energy and climate plans are not ambitious enough to meet the EU's overall targets, the coalition of NGOs warn (Photo: Peter Teffer)
Listen to article

The EU Commission is expected to release its assessment of the EU's climate progress on Tuesday (24 October), as part of its annual State of the Energy Union report.

Ahead of the publication, a coalition of NGOs has warned that member states' draft national climate plans will result in Europe missing its climate targets if "significant shortcomings" remain unresolved.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

EU member states are legally required to collectively achieve the European climate and energy targets.

However, according to the report by Climate Action Network, current plans show many countries are off track to meet their national contributions, to reach 55-percent emissions reduction in the EU by 2030.

"This report starkly highlights the glaring contrast between the urgent demand for accelerated climate action and the sluggish on-ground progress," said CAN Europe's director, Chiara Martinelli.

In some areas, the energy and climate transition is going in the right direction, notably the uptake of rooftop solar power.

But electrification speed overall still needs to more than double in the coming years, according to an June assessment by the European Climate Neutrality Observatory (ECNO), a recently launched independent climate watchdog.

Emission-reduction plans fall far short in many countries, including the Netherlands, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland and Italy.

The EU has updated its overall climate ambition with the introduction of the Fit for 55 package, updating its climate target to 55 percent lower emissions by 2030, up from 40 percent previously. And the 2030 target is legally-binding under the EU's climate law.

National energy and climate plans (NECPs) are being updated for the first time since 2019, but many are behind schedule and only 15 member states have submitted their draft climate plans.

Major member states, including France, Germany and Poland, still need to submit updated plans.

The report also notes that the overall target is too low and that a fair global contribution to limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius implies emissions should be 65-percent lower by 2030, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, according to the report.

One way member states could improve plans is by focusing on energy-saving. But ECNO notes data on home isolation and renovation rate needs to triple for Europe.

Some member states are also delaying their coal phase-out. In Croatia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, coal will continue to play a central role in the energy mix beyond 2030.

An earlier exit is "not sufficiently considered," CAN researchers concluded, which they said is "essential" to keep the EU's overall climate targets within reach.

The report also noted that to align with a 1.5 degrees Celsius pathway, the EU must phase out fossil gas by 2035.

But some countries, including Italy, Greece, Slovakia and Hungary, are expanding fossil-gas consumption. Cyprus, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands over-rely on carbon capture to reduce future emissions.

In most countries, there are no plans for decommissioning or clear exit dates for fossil-gas infrastructure. Only Portugal plans to phase out fossil gas by 2040, which is still too late to meet EU climate targets.

"This assessment exposes the inadequacy of the plans," said CAN EU policy expert Federico Mascolo, adding that "countries still have eight more months to set things right."

EU member states are expected to submit their final NECPs by 30 June 2024, taking into consideration the commission's recommendations.

Opinion

The Green Deal is gonna need a European Climate Fund

The last few months have brought increasing clarity on the legislative framework underpinning the European Green Deal — but very little clarity on the key question of how this will be financed.

EU chief links farming with climate to appease centre-right

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced "a strategic dialogue" on the future of EU agriculture — in response to the wave of criticism led by her own centre-right party in the European Parliament against some green policies.

Stakeholder

Managing climate disasters from space

EU space technology is increasingly becoming an essential cog in the machinery that manages responses to emergencies like floods and fires — from providing information to firefighters to alerting citizens of danger.

EU public procurement reform 'ineffective', find auditors

The EU Commission reformed procurement directives to make bids more attractive (and competitive), but the reform has failed, say auditors. Procedures now take longer, and the number of direct awards and individual tenders has increased over the past decade.

Analysis

What are the big money debates at COP28 UN climate summit?

The most critical UN climate conference (COP28) ever will run from Thursday to mid-December — with talks on climate commitments and climate finance expected to determine the success of this year's summit.

Latest News

  1. Afghanistan is a 'forever emergency,' says UN head
  2. EU public procurement reform 'ineffective', find auditors
  3. COP28 warned over-relying on carbon capture costs €27 trillion
  4. Optimising Alzheimer's disease health care pathways across Europe
  5. Georgian far-right leader laughs off potential EU sanctions
  6. The EU's U-turn on caged farm animals — explained
  7. EU-China summit and migration files in focus This WEEK
  8. COP28 debates climate finance amid inflated accounting 'mess'

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us