REPORT: Mind the NECP Gap – Main findings on ambition and implementation gaps from the latest NECPs

EU Member States were required to submit their final updated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) to the European Commission by 30 June 2024. However, as of 30th September 2024 – three months after the deadline – only 11 of the 27 final NECP updates have been submitted.

This briefing assesses the level of ambition and implementation of NECPs based on the NECP tracker. The NECP tracker, developed by the LIFE TogetherFor1.5 project, is an online tool that provides a visual representation of the ambition and implementation of NECPs, based on a selection of greenhouse gas emissions and energy indicators.

The NECP tracker has a double function: on the one hand, it assesses the ambition of the latest available NECPs (i.e. either the draft or final updates) by comparing them with EU 2030 climate targets and energy benchmarks. On the other hand, it monitors whether national governments are implementing their old 2019 NECPs as planned, by comparing them with historical data. It currently covers 17 EU Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.

While results vary across countries, the NECP tracker depicts a rather bleak picture. It notably finds that:

● Despite some improvements, the current level of ambition of the latest available NECP updates is insufficient not only to align with Paris Agreement commitments, but also to reach the EU 2030 climate and energy objectives, which would be in breach of the European Climate Law.

● The implementation of the old 2019 NECPs is lagging behind. All Member States assessed in the tracker seem to show some worrying trends and gaps in keeping up to their pledges.

● In retrieving data for the tracker, the authors found that NECPs present a varying but overall poor transparency and quality of data, which hinders the plans’ credibility as well as access to information.

These points are further elaborated in the main findings section, which provides an aggregate picture and an overview of the main trends and gaps. The country sheets sections provide country-specific, more detailed assessments of both ambition and implementation trends. An Annex at the end of this briefing provides details on the NECP tracker methodology and sources.

Link to access the full Report