This document summarizes the results of the project "The Future of the EU – Make Climate Action its Trademark".

With the Fit-for-55 package about to be put into law, and the RePowerEU plan adopted in response to the energy crisis, EU climate and energy is undergoing the most profound change in years, getting the EU on track to a post-fossil energy system. In a three-day series of events, partners from the Ariadne research project presented key insights from their work that is relevant for the further development of EU climate and energy policy, and discussed these with representatives from political institutions, academia, civil society and business. The events served to share research insights, to discuss and validate findings and their relevance for EU policy process, and to gather inputs for further research.

This webinar presents and discusses the findings of a report by SEI Tallinn. The analysis, conducted as part of the Climate Recon 2050 project, analyses the role of the LULUCF sector in Member States’ Long-Term Strategies (LTSs). Although the majority of LTSs published so far address the topic, the extent to which countries with significant potential in the sector explore its contribution to climate neutrality varies, even among Member States with significant needs for modernization of their existing legacy networks.

This event discussed how stable long-term policy direction can be maintained despite uncertainties, and in this context will zoom into the role of long-term strategies and scientific climate advisory councils. To exchange views on these tools with each other and the audience, Climate Recon 2050 and ARIADNE have brought together several experienced practitioners.

This paper provides an overview of the process of developing an LTS and its challenges, examines the support available for countries undergoing this process, and presents some ideas on how the G20 could raise the political profile of the strategies. It has been included as input into the T20 process preceding the 2020 summit.

Representatives from EU institutions and experts from 10 EU Member States discussed the Conference on the Future of Europe (CFE), and its impacts on EU climate and energy policies. Participants also discussed whether citizens' panels should become a standard feature of EU decision-making. The event concluded the project "The Future of the EU – Make Climate Action its Trademark", funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI).

This webinar presents and discusses findings of a report by Energy Policy Group. The analysis focuses on the role of district heating in Member States' Long-term Climate Strategies (LTSs). The report describes the current situation, highlights key challenges and shortcomings of published LTSs, and proposes a way forward for integrating efficient, low-carbon and reliable district heating systems into climate neutrality strategies.

This Briefing Note presents the first insights from Climate Recon 2050 – a project aiming to facilitate intra-EU exchange and foster the creation of know-how and networks essential to develop effective and ambitious national long-term climate strategies as a tool to guide a successful transition to a low-carbon economy. The Briefing Note brings together insights from the project’s activities – including a day of discussions on long-term climate planning held among policymakers from 10 EU Member States – and builds on related research by project partners.

On 9 May 2022, Europe Day, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CFE) closed – with the adoption of 49 recommendations. This is not the end of the process, but the beginning of new political action. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the role of the CFE as a starting point for renewed discussions on important topics such as climate, energy policy and EU democracy has been reiterated. Indeed, many recommendations from the CFE address EU climate policies – especially the ones prepared by its third citizens' panel on climate change, the environment and health. In this Ecologic Institute paper, Deyana Spasova questions how the panel's recommendations can improve EU climate policy? Where do the recommendations merely reiterate what is already in place? And how could the EU best translate the suggestions into policy action? The paper is available for download.

What kind of Europe do we want for the year 2035? This question is addressed by the EU initiative 'Conference on the Future of Europe', which enables European citizens to discuss their own ideas for Europe's future. Within the member states respective National Citizens' Panels, participants developed policy recommendations that were later passed on to the Conference. Ecologic Institute's Matthias Duwe gave a presentation on the topic of Climate and Environment at the Citizens' Forum in Germany on 15 January 2022.

Comparative analysis of the long-term strategies in Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia finds both commonalities as well as significant differences. The strategies in their current form represent an initial guide for each national transformation pathway towards a net-zero economy in the EU, but will benefit from further specification along the way. There is also presently no evidence of cross-border thinking or a search for joint solutions in the strategies. The publication identifies best practices and weaknesses of these strategies. The analysis has been conducted within the framework of the Climate Recon 2050 project, which is led by Ecologic Institute.

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 in sustainability governance, raising short-term ambition on climate action, ecosystem stewardship and adaptation. The event will be live streamed on YouTube.

In this COP26 side event, we discussed priorities for the further development of long-term strategies, lessons from strategy formulation and implementation processes in the EU and ASEAN, and prospects for international cooperation. We draw on recent analyses by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), the German Development Institute (DIE / GDI), the EU, including the EU-funded Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI) study on the development of LTS in ASEAN and the Climate Recon 2050 platform (CR2050) experiences.

The EU's debate on carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) is gaining momentum, but in important parts it is still a mystery. Basics of an EU framework for CDR remain unclear. An EU CDR Strategy could demystify CDRs and help trigger the necessary political debate on CDRs. A paper by Ecologic Institute discusses a CDR strategy for the EU. It examines why the EU should have a CDR strategy, and explores the main elements of a CDR strategy.