As the 26th United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP26) approaches, seven EU Member States (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Romania) have still not submitted their ‘long-term national strategies’ to the European Commission, the NGO CAN Europe said, on Thursday 30 September, on the occasion of the publication of an assessment of eight Member States' strategies.
Under the EU Regulation (2018/1999) on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, ‘national long-term strategies’ are roadmaps, spanning a minimum of 30 years, describing each Member State’s contribution to the Paris Agreement target.
They must therefore cover the total reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the strengthening of absorptions by sinks, as well as emission reductions and strengthening of absorptions by sector (electricity, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture, waste, etc.)
These strategies were originally due to be submitted to the Commission by the 1 January 2020.
Furthermore, the CAN Europe report highlights that the development and implementation of the strategies in the eight countries analysed (Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, Poland, Slovenia and Spain) “have very different levels of ambition, political ownership and public participation”.
See the report: https://bit.ly/2YgfjNg (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)