WWF’s main asks for an outdated Governance Regulation
Posted on January, 26 2024
Since the adoption of the Climate Governance Regulation in 2018, the European Union has committed to climate neutrality, increased its 2030 target and faced health, energy security and cost of living crises. The Regulation is now both outdated and unfit for purpose and therefore in need of a reform.
Recently, the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change also identified deficiencies in the EU climate governance framework. WWF publishes this briefing to put the spot on its three main asks regarding a potential reform of the Governance Regulation:
- Make adopting national climate neutrality targets mandatory in order to achieve the EU-wide climate-neutrality objective. These targets should be reflected in Member States’ National Energy and Climate Plans as well as in their national long-term strategies, and subject to assessment by the European Commission to check their consistency with the EU-wide climate-neutrality objective.
- Put a higher focus on national long-term strategies to ensure the achievement of the EU-wide climate-neutrality goal. The drafting and adoption process of national long-term strategies should be fully aligned with the NECP process: binding template, mandatory update every 5 years, country-specific recommendations, early and effective public participation, reporting and monitoring processes.
- National Energy & Climate Plans’ drafting and implementation processes must be effectively enforced. Compliance mechanisms have been lacking or ineffective: review of draft NECPs and means to ensure high-quality NECPs should be enhanced, as well as guidance on content and process around this planning tool.
This would help ensure the collective achievement of the EU-wide climate-neutrality objective.
