PlanUp tracks the development of National Energy & Climate Plans in five EU Member States: Spain, Italy, Poland, Romania and Hungary. To support rapid decarbonisation in Europe the project promotes good practices in the transport, agriculture and building sectors and fosters dialogue on low-carbon policymaking between local, regional and national authorities, civil society organizations and academia.
for strong and inclusive
energy & climate plans
energy & climate plans
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The impacts of climate change are already being adversely felt across the globe. Tackling this challenge within Europe and beyond will require substantial reductions in carbon emissions across all sectors of the economy, alongside a rapid transition to a zero-carbon energy mix. In the coming years, European Union member states will each need to develop National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). These plans will show how each member aims to deliver their 2030 climate and energy commitments.
"Ambitious NECPs are crucial to fulfil Europe’s 2050 climate commitment"
What are our main objectives?
- Build capacity of Local Authorities and Civil Society Organisations to engage in the development and implementation of NECPs
- Stimulate coordination between local, regional and national authorities on climate mitigation actions
- Ensure dissemination of good practices and promote well
designed, climate-friendly sectoral policies
- Improve the understanding of
economic and social benefits of climate mitigation actions through the increased uptake of quantitative modelling tools
FAQ
What can I find on the PlanUp website?
All about the EU national energy and climate plans!
- Use the map to track the development of these plans, with particular attention to five EU Member States: Spain, Italy, Poland, Romania and Hungary.
- In the resource library, you have access to all our reports, analyses, guides and tools to engage with your national government in the NECP process, as well as good practice examples in the transport, agriculture and building sectors. You can filter your search by sector and country.
- To keep yourself informed on the NECPs and other climate policy news, our events, workshops and webinars check our updates section. You can also sign up to our quarterly newsletter to directly receive it in your inbox.
- We also created #DebatingClimate, a space for you to engage in the climate and energy conversation. You can join the debate on social media and/or the debate section of our website - vote and leave us a comment!
What are the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and why are they important?
Through National Energy and Climate Plans your country has the potential of turning the Paris Agreement into tangible actions, act as capital raising instruments and involve citizens, civil society and local authorities in key issues of the climate and energy transition that will affect us all.
All European Union member states have energy and climate commitments and they will also have to develop their own strategy to fulfil them. Objectives, policies, targets, and measures from city planning to agricultural subsidies, public transport infrastructure, building renovations and waste collection will be outlined in the NECPs.
For this reason, the decisions under the NECPs will determine not only how many greenhouse gas emissions will be cut up to 2030, but, most importantly, can also set in motion the crucial transition to carbon-free societies.
What are the targets that Member States should “PlanUp” towards?
In 2014, EU leaders agreed on three headline energy and climate targets that the EU must meet by 2030: at least 40% cuts in domestic greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels); at least 32% share for renewable energy; and at least 32.5% improvement in energy efficiency.
These are the targets against which the current national energy and climate plans are being prepared and assessed.
However, since then, EU leaders have agreed that Europe must become climate-neutral by 2050. The EU Green Deal, launched by the European Commission in December 2019, and the EU Climate Law propose making this target legally binding.
Achieving this goal means that the EU’s short-term climate ambition needs to be raised. The Commission is expected to present its proposal to this end by September 2020.
A higher 2030 climate target means that the national energy and climate plans will need to be revised sooner than originally planned.
For the EU to do its fair share of global climate action, it should aim to be climate-neutral by 2040 at the latest and reduce its CO2 emissions by 65% by 2030.
When do EU member states have to develop NECPs?
In May 2018, the EU settled the timeline, process, planning and reporting requirements for the NECPs.
The first drafts were submitted to the European Commission for review at the end of 2018 and the Commission issued its recommendations in June 2019. The final NECPs were due by the end of December 2019, though few countries respected this deadline. The Commission is expected to publish its assessment of the final plans in June 2020. NECPs will be reviewed and updated every 5 years. For now, it is unclear how the Green Deal and the EU’s higher 2030 climate target affect the update process.
What does a NECP look like?
Summary:
Overview of the process followed for establishing the NECP
Targets:
Description of national energy and climate targets
Policies:
- Description of the planned foreseen policies as well as an overview of investments needed to meet the targets
- Description of the current situation of the 5 dimensions of the Energy Union[1] with already existing policies
- A description of the barriers to delivering the targets related to renewable energy and energy efficiency
Impacts:
- Assessment of the impact of planned policies to meet the targets including their consistency with the Paris Agreement objectives and the long-term strategies
- The macroeconomic and (to the extent feasible) health, environmental and social impact of the planned policies (+methodology)
- Projections for each of the 5 dimensions of the Energy Union to result from both existing and planned policies
[1] Energy security; the internal energy market; energy efficiency; decarbonisation; and research, innovation and competitiveness
How are countries progressing towards their greenhouse gas emission targets ?
In its assessment of the countries’ draft energy and climate plans in June 2019, the Commission found a significant gap[2] between what the countries put forward and the EU’s climate target, largely confirming what PlanUp had discovered in its own analyses[1].
The 2018 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report[2] clearly shows that we are running out of time to avoid a climate breakdown. At the same time, the EU Green Deal is a promise of putting Europe on the path towards cleaner, more sustainable and healthier societies. To live up to this promise, EU countries will need to step up their efforts and set out new or strengthened policies and measures to fulfil their obligations.
[1] PlanUp reccs: https://www.planup.eu/en/resources
[2] https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
Can I share my own content on the PlanUp platform?
You can! From an interview to an article, you can contribute by proposing content as well as send your comments to improve and update information here - or send your proposals to miriam.vicente@carbonmarketwatch.org.
Please, note that we reserve the right to edit articles for length and clarity and to refuse content that is not in line with PlanUp values and policy stance.
Consortium Team
Polish Green Network
The Polish Green Network is a national alliance of 11 environmental and sustainable development NGOs based in the largest Polish cities. The main areas of its activities concern building support and advocating for environmental and social justice within sustainable development, climate protection, and air quality, establishing social control mechanisms over public funds and providing development assistance in the Global South and Eastern Europe.
ISD Foundation
The Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD) Foundation is a non-governmental think-tank type organisation which was founded in 1990 on the initiative of
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Clean Air Action Group
The Clean Air Action Group (CAAG) is one of the best-known non-governmental organisations in Hungary that deal with the protection of the environment. It was established in 1988. Its Experts’ Committee consists of 60 specialists of various professions. CAAG received the Hungarian Prize NGO of the Year 2006. The main fields of activities of the CAAG are the following: sustainable urban development, sustainable transport, sustainable energy policy (especially related to buildings), and greening the state budget. CAAG’s activities include public awareness-raising, consulting, research, publishing and advocacy at the local and national levels.
Fundatia ADEPT
Fundatia ADEPT Transilvania (ADEPT) was established in November 2004 as a non-profit organisation with the objective of conserving the biodiversity of the important man-made landscapes of Transylvania using an integrated approach: scientific studies of species and habitats, suitable levels of protection, biodiversity-friendly management developed with local input and support.
GEC Bucovina
GEC Bucovina Is an NGO based in Romania that works very actively to promote interdisciplinary collaboration on environmental issues. Their main priorities are: a) increasing awareness and involving the civil society in decisions concerning environmental issues and their solutions; b) consultancy in environmental problems and ecological expertise; c) implementing the Industrial Symbiosis paradigm in the mainframe of EU Circular Economy Initiative; d) environmental conflicts mediation.
Legambiente
Legambiente is an Italian non-profit organisation founded in 1980. It’s the most prominent and widespread environmental association in Italy with two headquarters in Rome and Milan, 20 regional coordination offices and more than 600 local groups of volunteers. Legambiente is a pacifist and independent movement and is not related to any Italian party or institution. It’s supported by more than 115,000 members, donors and by projects and businesses that are in line with the organization’s principles. Legambiente acts at local, national and EU level to lobbying for sustainable development, green economy and climate change mitigation and adaptation, working together with consumers' associations, private companies, trade unions, and policy-makers to find a shared way towards a sustainable economy and way of life.
Dries Acke
Director for the Energy Systems ProgrammeDries is the Director for the Energy Systems Programme at the European Climate Foundation in Brussels. Dries carried forward the ECF’s flagship Roadmap 2050 and Energy Union Choices projects and now heads ECF’s activities on EU energy policy. Previously, Dries worked at Apple, Inc. in the EMEA Public Affairs department. He holds an M.A. in Contemporary History from the Catholic University of Brussels and Leuven, Belgium, and was awarded a post-graduate degree in International Relations from the Karl-Rüprecht University in Heidelberg, Germany. As a Belgian and native Dutch speaker, Dries also masters English and French and has a good level of German and Italian.
Piia Karjalainen
Senior Manager at ERTICOPiia Karjalainen is currently working as Senior Manager for MaaS Alliance at ERTICO, promoting new mobility services. She is based in Brussels. Previously she has been working for the European Parliament as an advisor for transport, environmental and energy policies and at the Finnish Ministry of Transport & Communications. She has been working her whole career in different positions related to transport mainly with transport strategies, ITS, Mobility as a Service, policymaking and EU regulation She holds a Master of Science in Economics.
Faustine Bas-Defossez
Co-Head of Agriculture and Land Management Programme at IEEPShe is an expert on the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and its environmental and climate impacts. Prior to IEEP, she worked for more than seven years at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) where she was leading the work on the CAP reform post 2013 and its greening. Not only she was coordinating all the analysis on the environmental and climate performance of the CAP for the EEB, she was also coordinating the work for more than 20 national EEB members on the CAP implementation and chaired DG AGRI Environment and climate change civil society dialogue group for two consecutive years. Within the EEB she also led the work on the integration of agriculture into the climate agenda. Prior to her experience at the EEB, Faustine worked for about two years at the European Commission, DG AGRI.
Paula Alves
Coordinator of the Governance ProgrammeCity of Lisbon and coordinator of the governance programme of the Climate Change Adaptation Municipal Strategy; fostering a participative citizenship of the community and a collective capacity building. Has been working for the last 20 years in building bridges between the civil society and decision makers, which are embedded in participative processes, designing, implementing and assessing national and local measures, based on the proximity between citizens and territory. She holds a degree in Social Work and a Master on Social Economics and Policy.
Thomas Pellerin-Carlin
Research Fellow at Jacques Delors InstituteThomas Pellerin-Carlin joins the Jacques Delors Institute in 2015. He now works as the Head of the Jacques Delors Energy Centre and as a Jacques Delors Institute research fellow. He works on the European Union energy policy, with a focus on innovation and climate change. He also works on the Energy Union (with Jean-Arnold Vinois), the social dimension of the energy transition (with Sofia Fernandes), clean mobility (with Emilie Magdalinski) and on the Horizon 2020 ENABLE.EU project on energy choices (with Emilie Magdalinski). Thomas also teaches at the College of Europe Energy Union Training Programme, at the Sorbonne, and the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University. He is also a member of the Policy Advisory Council of the European University Institute’s Florence School of Regulation. Thomas studied political science and holds a MA from the College of Europe’s Master in European Political and Administrative Studies, Bruges (2012-2013, Václav Havel Promotion) and an MA from Sciences-Po Lille (2007-2012, Promotion George Orwell).
Carbon Market Watch has over five years’ experience in influencing the EU’s climate policy developments with the unique combination of technical policy expertise and bottom-up pressure through our strategic partnerships. Our mission is to ensure that environmental market based mechanisms contribute to the fight against climate change. We work to uncover policy loopholes and uphold standards that protect the environmental and social integrity of carbon markets and other climate mitigation instruments. Since 2013, Carbon Market Watch has been closely involved in the implementation of the Effort Sharing Decision through the organisation of policy events, the commissioning of reports and the drafting of policy briefings. Over the last year, Carbon Market Watch was responsible for the coordination of the Effort Sharing Regulation campaign in Brussels. In this context, two regional workshops (e.g. Eastern-Europe and Southern Europe) were organised and an EU’s climate policy guide was developed to develop capacity at the national level and explore synergies between the EU and national level.
Elisa Martellucci
Project ManagerOn maternity leave until February 2021 (the PlanUp project is managed by Miriam Vicente Marcos). Elisa is Project Manager of the PlanUp project. She is responsible for the overall coordination of the project. Before joining the CMW team she worked at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) where she has been extensively involved in several EU funded research projects on employment and education. She holds a master degree in Political Science from the Free University for Social Studies (LUISS) in Rome.
Sam Van den plas
Policy DirectorSam Van den
Agnese Ruggiero
Policy OfficerAgnese works on EU climate governance and long-term climate strategy, providing analysis and policy input to the PlanUp project. Before joining Carbon Market Watch, she worked as campaign manager at the International Society of Nephrology where she gained extensive experience in advocacy and awareness raising. Agnese is very passionate about policies that affect individuals and believes that everyone can make a positive contribution, no matter how small.
Miriam Vicente Marcos
Community ManagerMiriam is currently the coordinator of the PlanUp project. Miriam is at the very core of the PlanUp community: newsletter coordinator and editor; social media manager; debating climate moderator and multimedia producer. She gives creative assistance and develops and implements the P
Kaisa Amaral
Communication DirectorKaisa is your contact person for media enquiries ➜ kaisa.amaral@carbonmarketwatch.org She is also responsible for planning and implementing media strategies and overseeing the development of different communication materials for PlanUp. A graduate from the University of Turku, Kaisa used to work at the European Commission’s citizens’ information service and in the press service of the Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union.
Energy Cities is the European Association of local authorities in the energy transition. The association represents about 1,000 members from 30 countries.
Its main objectives are to:
- Strengthen local authorities’ role and skills in the field of sustainable energy.
- Represent their interests and influence the EU policies in the fields of urban policy, energy, transport and environmental protection.
- Develop and promote cities’ initiatives through the exchange of experiences, transfer of know-how and implementation of joint projects.
David Donnerer
Policy officerDavid Donnerer works as EU policy and communication officer at Energy Cities, the European network of local authorities in energy transition. He is French-Austrian and holds a master degree in international relations from Aarhus University in Denmark. Within LIFE PlanUp, he is responsible for facilitating the development of a multi-layer governance framework within the national energy and climate plans in the project’s 5 focus countries.
Francisco Gonçalves
Project ManagerWith MSc in Environmental Engineering, PMP and IPMVP certified, with strong work experience in urban sustainable energy management - energy efficiency and renewable energy. Francisco is an expert in EU Funding & EU Project Management (8 years in Lisboa E-Nova; Lisbon's Environment and Energy Agency). Important international work and academic experiences. At the moment, managing urban sustainability and smart cities projects in Energy Cities.
Transport & Environment’s mission is to promote, at EU and global level, a transport policy based on the principles of sustainable development. Transport policy should minimise harmful impacts on the environment and health, maximise efficiency of resources, including energy and land, and guarantee safety and sufficient access for all. Established in 1990, T&E represents 50 organisations from 26 countries across Europe, mostly environmental groups and campaigners working for sustainable transport policies at national, regional and local level. We add value through the sharing of knowledge, ideas and networks. We have contributed to a number of high-profile EU policy changes such as binding standards for more fuel efficient cars and vans and more sustainable biofuels; inclusion of aviation in the EU ETS, introduction of green tyre labels, and smarter EU rules on the way lorries can be charged and designed.
James Nix
Director, Freight and ClimateJames Nix is Freight and Climate Director at T&E. With more than 50 civil society member organisations from across Europe, T&E works to advance cleaner and safer transport. James is a senior member of the PlanUp team, providing guidance and oversight of the project. James' previous roles include director of Green Budget Europe and director of Ireland's national trust, known as An Taisce. James has also served as a non-executive director of Ireland’s state railway company, Irish Rail (2012-2015), and as a T&E board member (2015-2017). He holds qualifications in transport, law and real estate development.
Cristina Mestre
Policy OfficerCristina is climate and biofuels policy officer at Transport & Environment (T&E). She joined T&E in 2015 and has been involved in EU policy campaigns advocating for cleaner transport since. Before T&E, Cristina worked for ACR+, an association of European cities and regions promoting recycling and resource efficiency and also spent some time at the European Commission's department for Environment as a Blue Book Stagiaire. She holds a degree on Environmental Sciences and a masters degree on management of Environmental, Quality and Safety systems. Besides her native Spanish, Cristina speaks English, French and a bit of Dutch.
Zsigmond Kovács
CommunicationsZsigmond worked at T&E's Hungarian member, Clean Air Action Group as a communications officer for two and a half years. Before that, he was a content creator for Hungary's leading green news website. Currently his work at T&E focuses on video production, digital marketing and social media.
CLIMACT is a consultancy founded in 2007 whose mission is to help organizations to reduce their impact on the climate. With an established reputation of professionalism, expertise and integrity, CLIMACT counts among his clients small and medium-sized enterprises, private actors, NGO, public authorities and local communities. CLIMACT offers services from the prospective study such as energy & low-carbon roadmap, to reduction strategy, carbon balance and life cycle analysis, to be pursued by a legal assistance and a Third Party Financing activity. CLIMACT bases his activities on a deep understanding of the institutional, economic, technical and social challenges, and has already worked for various geographies.
Julien Pestiaux
PartnerJulien Pestiaux leads the long-term energy and climate strategies. His broad and recognized European expertise on energy systems contributes to various consulting projects. He will be overseeing the input from
Benoit Martin
Benoît Martin is a consultant. He leads various projects for public and private customers. His expertise covers energy modelling, carbon footprint and data analytics. As a
The EEB has been engaging with European Commission activities aimed at promoting effective implementation of EU legislation in specific areas for more than 40 years. In this context, experts take part in technical working groups and or in committees initiated by the Commission. The EEB facilitates contacts between the Commission and national environmental Organisations. EEB’s Work on the EU policy agenda for energy and climate include participation in the consultations to the climate and clean energy package as well as intensive work on the link of energy efficiency, agriculture and circular economy to ensure the necessary incorporation within the 2030 Effort-Sharing regulation with the intention of maximising the climate change mitigation potential of the buildings, waste and agriculture sector while avoiding perverse outcomes.
Barbara Mariani
Senior Policy Officer for ClimateBarbara Mariani is Senior Policy Officer for Climate at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and leads the climate end energy team. Barbara has 20 years of experience in climate, energy and environmental policies and has acquired strong expertise of the challenges faced by industry as Senior Adviser and Advocacy Manager for the Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria) in Brussels. Barbara is an expert of the carbon market and the wide range of issues relevant to the transition towards a decarbonized economy, including competitiveness, technological, economic and financial aspects. She was involved in the various reforms of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and in the negotiations on the EU Climate and Energy Packages, Circular Economy, the Clean Transport and the Sustainable Finance legislative packages. Before moving to Brussels, Barbara worked for the British Embassy in Rome as Climate, Energy and Environment Officer where, amongst other, she led a national campaign to raise awareness on the economic impacts of climate change.
Bérénice Dupeux
Senior Policy Officer for AgricultureBérénice is the Senior Policy Officer for Agriculture for the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). She holds a PhD in Agricultural economics from Ghent University in Belgium, she has also a Master degree in International Development and Rural Policy from Wageningen University in the Netherlands and she is an agricultural engineer from Institut national polytechnique de Toulouse, France. Before joining the EEB she worked as a researcher at Ghent University and conduct some research at UC Berkeley as a Fulbright-Schuman scholar.
Alberto Vela
Communications OfficerAlberto is working in the Communications Team at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). He is a journalist specialized in climate and EU affairs, with experience in different media, NGOs and institutions. In Brussels, he worked for the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, the European Cycling Federation and the European Civic Forum. Since he holds a MA in Documentary, he has a particular interest in audio-visual narratives. Alberto is Spanish and he speaks English, Italian and is working on his French.
Contact
Have a question? We might have an answer.Project details
| Countries | Spain, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Romania |
| Supported by | EU LIFE programme of the European Union European Climate Foundation The European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) |
| Duration | 1 July 2018 – 1 July 2021 |
| Budget | 1,544,343 Euros (EU LIFE Contribution: 926,605€) |