Charting a Path to Net Zero – Summary

An assessment of national long-term strategies in the EU

Publication: Document
Citation: Velten, Eike Karola, Duwe, Matthias, Evans, Nick (2022): Charting a path to net zero: An assessment of national long-term strategies in the EU. Summary. Ecologic Institute, Berlin.

This summary distills the insights from the technical report "Charting a Path to Net Zero: An assessment of national long-term strategies in the EU" commissioned by the European Climate Foundation and written by Ecologic Institute. It summarizes the key findings and recommendations from an assessment of 22 long-term strategies (LTSs) of EU Member States available as of March 2022. The summary and the full technical report are available for download.

Charting a Path to Net Zero: Country specific information

Year 2023

Publication:Infographic

This infographic visualizes the proposed three-step process (preparation, implementation, monitoring) for EU member states to strengthen LTS relevance for net-zero. It's part of the report "Charting a Path to Net Zero. An assessment of national long-term strategies in the EU." The report presents the findings from an assessment of 22 long-term strategies (LTSs) of the EU Member States available as of March 2022. It is complemented by a briefing that summarizes the key findings and recommendations.

Enhancing LTS Relevance for Net-zero

Year 2022

Publication:Infographic

All EU member states should be clear on the role of emission reductions and removals, and ideally include specific long-term reduction and removal targets. LTSs should provide information about when and how these reductions and removals will be realised. This means strategies must include a description of pathways, including interim targets, to paint a clear picture of what needs to happen in the short- and longer term. This infographic visualizes different pathways of long-term strategies. It's part of the report "Charting a Path to Net Zero. An assessment of national long-term strategies in the EU." The report presents the findings from an assessment of 22 long-term strategies (LTSs) of the EU Member States available as of March 2022. It is complemented by a briefing that summarizes the key findings and recommendations.

Understanding Potential Pathways towards Net-zero

Year 2022

Publication:Infographic

Preparing and then adopting a robust and sufficiently detailed long-term climate strategy is a crucial step. These strategies should include pathways that identify the necessary changes in the main emitting sectors and the economy as a whole. The plans need to take into consideration the specific national starting conditions and include economic, technical and social aspects, as well as other long-term objectives (e.g., adaptation needs or biodiversity goals). This infographic shows puzzle pieces that should be considered when developing strategies for moving toward net-zero emissions.

Puzzle Pieces for Charting a Path to Net-zero Emissions

Year 2022

Event:Digital Event

All Member States have the same obligation to produce national LTSs under EU law. A team of researchers has now analysed the state of these documents and their relevance in national policy-making for the first time across the EU. This event presents the most important insights from this analysis and seeks to start a conversation with all relevant stakeholders on how to improve their effective use.

Resilient Pathways to Climate Neutrality

Lessons from Member States' long-term climate strategies

10 November 2022
online

Publication:Report

This report presents the findings from an assessment of 22 long-term strategies (LTSs) of the EU Member States available as of March 2022. It is complemented by a briefing that summarizes the key findings and recommendations. The analysis looked at two distinct qualities of strategies: the vision of a low-emission future represented in the pathways and projections of the LTS as well as the preparation and use of the strategy as a tool to guide policy decisions, in other words its relevance in national climate policy.

Charting a Path to Net Zero

An assessment of national long-term strategies in the EU

Year 2022

Project

Reaching climate neutrality by 2050 in the EU requires strong policy making and monitoring to ensure all areas of the European economy get and remain on track. Over two years (2021-2022) Ecologic Institute completed several related research projects and policy assessments on the functioning and fitness of EU climate policy for a net-zero future. These included a first-of-its-kind assessment of the substance of national long-term strategies (LTS), a scoping paper for an EU Carbon Dioxide Removal strategy, the creation of a Climate Framework Laws Info-Matrix as a new resource to document the substance and status of these legislative instruments across Europe, and a net-zero scorecard as proof of concept for a net-zero monitoring framework developed under a previous project.

Assessments Supporting EU Progress towards Climate Neutrality

Pieces of analysis on the functioning and fitness of EU climate policy for a net-zero future.

Jun 2021 - Jun 2023

Language

English

Authorship

Eike Karola Velten

Matthias Duwe

Nick Evans

Credits

Acknowledgements:

We want to thank Erica Hope, Charlotte Billingham, Donal Mac Fhearraigh, Sharon Turner and Zoltan Massay Kosubek from the European Climate Foundation (ECF) for inspiration and support.

Furthermore, we are grateful for the support from Kamil Laskowski from WiseEuropa, Peter Robert Walke from Swedish Environment Institute Tallinn and Katarina Trstenjak from Jožef Stefan Institute. We also want to thank our colleagues Katharina Umpfenbach and Ewa Iwaszuk for content check and advice on readability.

Special thanks also goes to the national experts which helped us understand the relevance of national strategies in their country: Detelina Petrova, Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria and Radu Dudau, Energy Policy Group (EPG); Michal Daňhelka, Ministry of Environment of Czechia and Karel Polanecky, Friends of the Earth Czechia; Erik Rasmussen, Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities of Denmark and Dan Belusa, The Danish 92 Group; Gwenaël Podesta, Ministry of the Ecological Transition and Nicolas Berghmans, Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI); Martin Weiss, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany and Sabine Gores, Öko-Institut; Krzysztof Kobyłka, WiseEuropa; Francisco Ferreira, ZERO and Pedro Barata, Environmental Defense Fund; Carlota Ruiz Bautista, Instituto Internacional de Derecho y Medioambiente (IIDMA) and Antxon Olabe, formerly Ministry of Ecological Transition of Spain.

Any errors or mistakes are the sole responsibility of the authors.

Funding

European Climate Foundation (ECF), International

Published by

European Climate Foundation (ECF), International

Year

2022

Dimension

8 pp.

Project

Assessments Supporting EU Progress towards Climate Neutrality

Project ID

Keywords

Climate

Energy

Governance

National long-term strategies, LTS, governance, planning, net-zero, climate neutrality, elements for climate neutrality, long-term vision, relevance, NECPs, National Energy and Climate Plans

EU Member States, Europe

Qualitative and quantitative assessment: assessment matrix with qualitative and quantitative input request and partly predefined answers; calculations of GHG emission reductions; expert interviews.

Further Links

PublicationDocumentCharting a Path to Net Zero: Country specific information

All EU Member States are required to develop a national long-term climate strategy outlining targets and actions towards 2050, according to the EU Governance Regulation. Ecologic Institute carried out a cross-country analysis of the 22 national long-term strategies,... Read more

Velten, Eike Karola and Deyana Spasova 2023: Charting a path to net zero: Country specific information. Berlin: Ecologic Institute.

PublicationReportCharting a Path to Net Zero

Velten, Eike Karola, Nick Evans, Deyana Spasova, Matthias Duwe, Ramiro de la Vega, Laurens Duin, and Harrison Branner (2022): Charting a path to net zero: An assessment of national long-term strategies in the EU. Ecologic Institute, Berlin.

PublicationPolicy BriefPlanning for Net-zero: Assessing the Draft National Energy and Climate Plans

A report by Ecologic Institute and Climact shows that the draft National Energy and Climate Plans presented by governments at the start of 2019 are in acute need of improvement. They suffer from inadequate targets and insufficient details on the policies and financing... Read more

Duwe, Matthias; Eike Karola Velten, Nick Evans, Mona Freundt, Julien Pestiaux, Benoît Martin, Pascal Vermeulen (2019): Planning for net-zero: Assessing the Draft National Energy and Climate Plans. Berlin, Louvain-la-Neuve, Bruessels.

ProjectThe EU Long-term Strategy – the implications of striving for net-zero emissions

A Climate Neutral Europe by 2050 – a possible vision for the future? On 28 November 2018, the European Commission published analysis to underpin a new long-term strategy (LTS) on climate policy for the EU, laying out a vision of how to decarbonize the European... Read more

The EU Long-term Strategy – the implications of striving for net-zero emissions

Duration: Sep 2018 - Jul 2020
Funding: German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany

EventDigital EventBeyond Climate Neutrality: Using LTS to Chart an Equitable Path for a Resilient Planet

Event banner with organizational information

Join us on 6 November 2021 at 17:45 CET for this online COP26 Side Event that explores the role of long-term climate strategies (LTS) in sustainability governance, raising short-term ambition on climate action, ecosystem stewardship and adaptation. The event will be... Read more

Digital Event:Beyond Climate Neutrality: Using LTS to Chart an Equitable Path for a Resilient Planet

Date: 6 November 2021
Location: online

ProjectDialogue on Pathways and Policies for a Climate-neutral EU (Climate Recon 2050)

The EU has agreed to become climate neutral by 2050. Achieving climate neutrality in the next 30 years is a great societal, economic and political undertaking, presenting many challenges and opportunities. The Climate Recon 2050 project addresses the central process of... Read more

Dialogue on Pathways and Policies for a Climate-neutral EU (Climate Recon 2050)

Duration: Oct 2020 - Dec 2022
Funding: Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), Germany

European Climate Foundation (ECF), International

ProjectAssessing Policy Evaluations in the Context of the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs)

The aim of this project is to assess – for a selection of EU Member States – the impacts of policies and measures (PaMs) as described in their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). To this end, the project team identifies specific policy instruments and related ex... Read more

Assessing Policy Evaluations in the Context of the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs)

Duration: Nov 2020 - Aug 2023
Funding: German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany

Download: Charting a path to net zero – Full Report