Here’s what the European Commission says about the Energy and Climate Plan presented by Member States, including Italy: there’s still a bit to do.
The objectives that the European Union must achieve by 2030in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development signed in 2015 by the governments of 193 UN member countries, seem increasingly difficult to achieve after most EU member countries, including Italy, presented in Brussels the drafts of their national energy and climate plans (PNEC).
This is what the European Commission says in its first analysis of the revised national energy and climate plans. 21 Member States out of a total of 27including that of Italy. The recommendation for everyone is the same, net of some differences: “Even more commitment is needed, also in light of the outcome of COP 28 and the global call to accelerate action in this decade.“.
What is the Energy and Climate Plan?
Il National Energy and Climate Planbetter known by the acronym PNEC, is in effect the roadmap of each EU Member State towards the collective achievement of the binding EU target of reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 and national energy and climate objectives.
Each country has submitted a plan for the period 2021-2030 according to a well-established roadmap: a first draft in 2018, a final version in 2019 and an updated draft in 2023. For each version, the EU Commission gave an evaluation and from that response came the changes made by the various countries, including Italy with the latest version that you can consult in full to this address.
What the EU says about the proposed PNECs
In detail, according to the evaluation of the PNEC proposals of the Member States and the related recommendations made by the European Commission, the PNEC proposals are not yet sufficient to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (current measures would result in a 51% reduction). Not only that. More ambitious action is needed to close the 6.2 percentage point gap to the 40% target in the effort-sharing sectors and there is a 40 to 50 Mt CO2eq shortfall to reach the -310 Mt CO2eq target set out in the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation.
The EU Commission also has recommendations for renewable energy: current proposals from 21 of the 27 Member States would increase their share in the energy mix to 38.6-39.3% by 2030, compared to a target of 42.5%. The same goes for energy efficiency: current proposals would lead to improvements of 5.8% compared to a target of 11.7%.
EU opinion on Italy’s draft
The recommendations of the European Commission after the analysis of the PNEC proposal of Italy are not too dramatic. Among the positive elements highlighted are the measures to support Renewable energy installation and energy efficiency measures also thanks to the detailed information on energy savings in public bodies contained in the draft.
The opinion on the highly ambitious policies and concrete measures that Italy has presented for Strengthen the security of the Italian energy systemin particular for gas diversification and gas demand reduction. The EU Commission has also defined convincing measures to ensure the non-discriminatory participation of new market operators and to encourage flexibility services, despite the absence of clear objectives.
The strategy of, on the other hand, is less good long-term redevelopment of buildings with the aim of improving energy efficiency. According to the EU, Italy has excluded more ambitious objectives from the plan than those envisaged in 2020 and has not provided estimates of the financial needs to achieve those objectives or what the sources of financing could be.
Italy’s latest draft, the Commission’s analysis underlines, does not contain a target for reducing energy poverty and does not report the number of families currently affected by energy poverty. Similarly, the Italian plan must improve on the research, innovation and competitiveness front: at present it does not provide sufficient information on measures and investments to support research and innovation in clean energy technologies.
Criticisms also to theItaly’s adaptation to climate change: the plan does not assess the vulnerabilities and climate risks necessary to achieve climate objectives, policies and measures. Even in terms of achieving a fair transition, the Italian plan is not aligned with the commitments made in the adopted Territorial Plans for Fair Transition, in particular for the Sulcis power plant.
Why only 21 PNEC proposals out of 27 Member States?
The analysis of the national energy and climate plans is still missing from the roll call. Belgium, Ireland e Latviawho submitted them late, causing the evaluation to be postponed to the first months of 2024, and Austria, Bulgaria e Poland which to date have not yet been delivered to Brussels.
What will happen now?
At this point, after these new recommendations, the 27 Member States will have six months to correct the critical issues highlighted by the EU and submit the final plans. The deadline is set for June 30, 2024. This process, explains the EU Commission, should ensure that the final versions of the plans are ambitious, sufficiently detailed and robust, and that they provide a solid basis for accelerating the implementation phase in the coming years.
Source: www.greenstyle.it
