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Terminology
Terminology: Building Blocks
Building blocks
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.
Building block assessment
On Track
Too slow
Far too slow
Wrong direction
Insufficient data
Term: A
A
Acceleration factor
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’.
Term: B
B
Benchmarks
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.
Term: C
C
Climate neutrality
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.
Term: E
E
Enablers
The supporting conditions and underlying changes needed to meet the objectives in a given building block. They are the opposite of barriers or inhibitors.
Term: H
H
Historical data
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.
Term: I
I
Indicators
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.
Term: O
O
Objectives
Describe what needs to be achieved in each building block to reach climate neutrality.
Term: R
R
Required change
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.
Term: T
T
Trend
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 European Climate Neutrality Observatory
was launched in mid-2023 as an independent progress monitoring initiative that uses an indicator-based framework and scientifically rigorous analysis to help the EU achieve climate neutrality.
Objective
Support the EU in achieving its climate goals
ECNO exists to ensure the EU is set up for climate neutrality success by regularly assessing economy-wide, on-the-ground progress and providing an independent check of the EU policy processes that drive it.
Objective
Offer a data-driven look at what underlies headline emission trends
ECNO aims to tell a comprehensive story of where the EU stands on its journey to climate neutrality, applying indicators that track structural, real-world changes across 13 building blocks of a climate neutral future.
Objective
Inspire more robust progress monitoring and enhance transparency
As an independent observatory, ECNO seeks to promote the uptake of better climate policy monitoring practices by EU institutions to enhance accountability and transparency as we move into a critical era of climate policy implementation.
Partners
ECNO is a consortium of leading European research organisations with expertise spanning the fields of climate policy, governance, economics, and finance across the whole economy.
Ecologic Institute
Ecologic Institute is an independent, academic think tank for environmental research and policy analysis.
Climact
Climact is a consulting company that aims to empower all types of organisations to act on climate change and support the energy transition.
Institute for Climate Economics
The Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE) is a non-profit research organization that provides independent policy analysis on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
New Climate Institute
NewClimate Institute is a non-profit think tank, raising ambition for action against climate change and supporting sustainable and climate-resilient development through research, policy analysis, and knowledge sharing.
Reform Institute
Reform Institute is a Polish independent think tank that supports the continuous improvement of formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies in Poland, Europe and globally.
Funders
This project has been supported by the European Climate Foundation. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this website lie with the author[s]. The European Climate Foundation cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained or expressed therein.
European Climate Foundation
The European Climate Foundation (ECF) is a major philanthropic initiative working to help tackle the climate crisis by fostering the development of a net zero emission society at the national, European and global level. We support over 700 partner organisations to carry out activities that drive urgent and ambitious policy in support of the objectives of the Paris Agreement, contribute to the public debate on climate action and help deliver a socially responsible transition to a net-zero economy and sustainable society in Europe and around the world
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report
State of EU progress to climate neutrality
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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