The 2050 road to climate-neutrality: are national long-term renovation strategies fit for 2050? This analysis, representing over 50% of the EU population (covering seven EU Member States and one region, Flanders, Belgium), reveals that Member States’ long-term renovation strategies (LTRS) are largely not compliant with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) objectives towards achieving a highly energy efficiency and decarbonised building stock by mid-century.
Beyond this, the objectives of the LTRS are now misaligned with the EU’s strengthened 2030 Climate Target and 2050 climate-neutrality objective.
Half of the analysed strategies include an objective at or above 90% GHG emissions reduction, which is in line with the legal requirement of the EPBD. However, none of the eight strategies targets 100% decarbonisation of the building stock.
This means that the substantial increase in renovation activity that is required – a deep renovation rate of 3% annually by 2030, is unlikely to be achieved.
The analysis ultimately reveals that even full compliance with the EPBD, as it currently stands, is not enough to achieve 2050 climate-neutrality. Member States should now be seeking to achieve 100% decarbonisation of their building stock and developing long-term renovation strategies to deliver the climate-neutrality objective. The revision process of the EPBD, within the context of the Fit for 55 package in 2021, offers the opportunity to ensure a much stronger place for buildings in Member States’ decarbonisation plans, who should implement the efficiency first principle.
A full revision of the EPBD is therefore strongly suggested in order to ensure that Europe achieve its strengthened 2030 climate target and its aim of climate-neutrality by 2050.
BPIE is a non-profit policy research institute, located in Brussels, with additional offices in Berlin, Bucharest and Warsaw, dedicated to improving the energy performance of buildings across Europe.
We focus on knowledge creation and dissemination for evidence-based policy making and implementation at national level.
– BYinnovation is Media Partner of BPIE