Building blocks are the economic sectors, such as energy, transport or industry, and cross-cutting areas, such as finance, innovation, and lifestyles, in which transformation is needed to achieve a climate neutral society by 2050, and across which ECNO tracks progress.
Or the ‘required change in speed’ is the ratio of the required change versus the past change on a given indicator. This results in the example formulation: ‘We need to increase our annual emission reductions to at least 4.9 Mt CO2e per year – or 2.6 times faster than the 1.9 MtCO2e per year achieved in the past’.
Future reference points against which progress for each indicator is compared. ECNO derives benchmarks from official EU sources, such as directives, regulations, strategies, and action plans, including their related impact assessments. Benchmarks often come in the form of quantified policy goals or targets.
Stands for the objective of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This means that emissions are brought down as close to zero as possible, with remaining, difficult to abate emissions balanced by GHG removals within a given country or region.
The supporting conditions and underlying changes needed to meet the objectives in a given building block. They are the opposite of barriers or inhibitors.
Includes, but is not limited to, statistics from Member States harmonised and provided by Eurostat or the European Environment Agency (EEA) as well as from international organisations such as the OECD, FAO, or World Bank.
Track the historical development and status of enablers and objectives based on quantitative data. An assessment of indicator progress compares the trend against the required development to meet a future reference point, where data and relevant benchmarks are available.
Describe what needs to be achieved in each building block to reach climate neutrality.
The change that underlies a pathway that meets the identified benchmark or target. Where benchmarks are missing, the required change indicates a direction and speed of change.
The development of an indicator over time based on historical data. ECNO’s trendline is a straight, best-fit line that smooths out the variation in historical developments based on all data points, providing a sense of the general progress over time.
The scope of this transition means rapidly re-imagining the way we consume, produce, and go about our daily lives. Long-standing business practices and technologies must be replaced, old habits shifted, and resources redirected to cleaner, future-proof investments.
NOVEMBER 2023. This new briefing examines the current state of EU cleantech from lab to market. The ECNO flagship progress report found that progress in the cross-cutting sector of cleantech has so far been too slow. The briefing's author, ECNO expert Ciarán Humpreys, sheds light on the role of finance in accelerating progress to become in line with the EU's 2050 climate neutrality target.
The assessment of progress considers the key objectives and enabling conditions for change needed in each building block. This approach is designed to accompany the overarching nature of the European Green Deal and the EU's headline climate neutrality target, which touches all aspects of the economy and society.
Progress is assessed across a comprehensive set of 104 indicators, covering all areas of European society and economy. Indicators are selected to target on-the-ground change by measuring the enabling conditions for emission reductions, not only key headline trends.
As the EU finalises and adopts legislation to implement the European Green Deal, ECNO's analysis across 13 building blocks reveals strengths and weaknesses in the EU’s progress towards climate neutrality.
The transition of lifestyles towards more sustainable behaviour patterns and social practices is a meaningful driver of decarbonisation.
The assessment of progress towards climate neutrality shows that the EU is moving in the right direction, but the pace is too slow. The transition to climate neutrality is essential for ensuring a liveable future.
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