Planning for 2050 – shifting the focus towards long-term climate objectives

Climate planning for 2050 has become a core strand of debate in the European Union. Focus has shifted to a potential revision of the EU’s long-term climate objectives within the context of a new 2050 strategy, which is to be submitted to the United Nations under the Paris Agreement by 2020. In parallel, all EU Member States must develop national strategies of their own, albeit with little central guidance and no overarching structure in place for collaboration.

Designing Paris compatible, national long-term climate strategies is a challenging task for most Member States, yet insights from the Climate Recon 2050 project show, that a wealth of experience already exists across Member States and can be used to develop the new long-term strategy for 2020. While current long-term strategies in some Member States differ greatly, identifying common challenges and barriers as well as opportunities for comparability will enable Member States to learn from each other on issues such as technological assumptions and governance options. For this, an open dialogue is required between Member States. Additionally Member States need support from EU institutions and regional actors in facilitating the knowledge exchange.

This briefing summarizes the insights collected throughout the activities of Climate Recon 2050 project. The Climate Recon 2050 platform offers a dialogue among experts from government and science. It provides insights into the key elements of already existing long-term strategies and dives into practical examples, collaboration opportunities and challenges by Member States. The information available supports policy-makers in the design of the long-term strategies yet also informs a wider stakeholder group on what elements are essential for a Paris compatible long-term strategy. Climate Recon 2050 project is financed by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI), established in 2017 by the German Environment Ministry to foster intra-EU exchange on climate policy at all levels of society and policy-making.