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. ECNO provides an independent check on real-economy progress towards climate neutrality and on climate policy and governance to support the EU in reaching the 2050 climate neutrality target.
27 March 2025
The latest ECNO analysis of 22 final national energy and climate plans (NECPs) reveals gaps in national contributions and policies.
Gaps are visible in
- Member States' contributions to the EU’s renewables and energy efficiency targets;
- projected policy impacts for emissions under the Effort Sharing Regulation, natural sinks, renewables, and energy consumption; and
- Member States' efforts to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.
24 February 2025
In the face of geopolitical shifts, not least those driven by the second Trump administration, the EU needs to secure its own green industrial base and foster new alliances. The European Commission’ proposal for a Clean Industrial Deal, central to its new competitiveness agenda, needs to spell out how Europe will create the enabling conditions to transform Europe’s industrial landscape to this end.
27 January 2025
In 2025, the EU faces a pivotal moment to strengthen energy security and economic resilience by driving forward its clean energy transition with decisive new policies and actions.
05 December 2024
As the Commission begins its new term, it must navigate tricky geopolitical and economic situation while continuing to drive progress towards climate neutrality. Strengthening Europe’s competitiveness, the prosperity of its citizens, and resilience of the economy will be central to this mission. In this blog, ECNO highlights five key priorities for the new Commission to focus on.
02 July 2024
The second annual assessment of progress towards climate neutrality confirms that the EU is moving in the right direction, but that the pace is still too slow. While all 13 building blocks remained in the same progress classification as last year, there was promising progress under the emissions curve.
02 July 2024
At our launch event in Brussels, we presented our newest findings and engaged with relevant high-profile stakeholders. We hosted two thematic panels on topics that move the EU at the moment: industrial transformation and just transition for the people of the EU.
ECNO uses an indicator-based framework that tracks progress to climate neutrality across economic sectors and cross-cutting areas. Together these form the ‘building blocks’ of a climate neutral future.
ECNO provides an independent check on EU climate governance and the EU's own monitoring framework. For example, by assessing National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) in regards to their transparency and internal consistency or by analysing the policy context of the building blocks tracked in the annual ECNO progress report.
