The meeting started with partner organizations presenting themselves. During the meeting, the following objectives were discussed: Project management, Financial management, Monitoring project progress, Internal management, Communication & branding guidelines, and Upcoming activities.

The AGRIC project directly strengthens the institutional capacity and investment readiness for adopting Agri-PV solutions in Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Poland and Serbia. To achieve this, AGRIC delivers dedicated trainings, disseminates best practices through training materials and demonstration farm videos, a funding guide and an interactive impact assessment tool, as well as policy recommendations. Building on these activities, AGRIC aims to showcase the benefits and opportunities of integrating Agri-PV as a dual-land use solution in the agricultural sector.

The activities of the project are related to fostering awareness of climate resilience in the agricultural sector and accelerating the energy transition in rural regions through cross-regional learning.

The Kick-off meeting concluded with a discussion of the upcoming in-person event of the project, which will be organised in Ruhstorf, Germany, on 21^st April 2026.

The project is co-funded by the EUKI (European Climate Initiative) Programme and has a duration of 28 months, from February 2026 to June 2028.

During the project’s second in-person meeting, hosted in Romania, discussions highlighted the main challenges currently facing the transition to electromobility. These include the high upfront costs of electric vehicles, the lack of predictable financial support schemes and insufficient charging infrastructure often located at unreasonable distances from residential areas. Participants also pointed to the fragmented user experience at charging stations, where different providers require separate applications and complex payment systems.

At the same time, several urban governance challenges were addressed. These range from the loss of parking spaces due to their conversion into charging points, to the lack of secure areas for parking and charging electric bicycles, as well as regulatory barriers that hinder rather than encourage micromobility. Such regulations disproportionately affect young people (given the minimum age of 14 for bicycle use) or people with reduced mobility.

These barriers are not only technical, but also social in nature. Changing mobility-related behaviours, building trust in new modes of transport, and ensuring the ongoing involvement of citizens remain key challenges for any community-based electromobility initiative.

Starting from these realities, the purpose of the meeting was to introduce participants to key concepts related to community-led initiatives, present inspirational local and national case studies and support them in shaping and co-creating in their teams, their own ideas. The learning environment combined knowledge transfer with hands-on reflection, laying the groundwork for future community mobility initiatives in Romania.

From idea to solution

Currently, six teams from across the country are competing for a €10,000 grant that will support the implementation of a community-based electromobility initiative. The teams come from diverse backgrounds, including academia, homeowners’ associations and their communities, as well as cycling groups representatives. While their ideas differ, they all share a common principle: mobility solutions must be designed around people and their specific local contexts.

In the medium term, initiatives like these can help increase the use of alternative modes of transport, strengthen a sense of belonging and civic responsibility within communities and ultimately reduce dependence on private cars.

Applications for the funding call are open until 15 February and can be submitted by completing the following form

Next Steps: funding, mentorship and local testing

In the coming weeks, project proposals will be submitted and evaluated as part of the funding competition. The selected initiative from Romania will receive financial support, hands-on mentorship and assistance in testing the proposed model within their local community.

The transition to sustainable mobility can begin with dialogue, collaboration and the courage to test new solutions at the local level.

Why Output 3 – Policy Recommendations & Assessment Results – is a Critical Step

Policy Recommendations and Assessment Results form the strategic culmination of the ELCA cycle and mark the transition to political and practical impact. While Output 1 focused on capacity building for local climate protection managers and Output 2 established stable regional structures through the ELCA Community Support Centers for Climate Action, Output 3 translates all accumulated knowledge and discussions into tangible, verifiable, and policy-ready results. This step is also where one of the central priorities of European climate policy comes into play: integrating Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) as core instruments of modern local climate governance.

Nature-Based Solutions in ELCA: Why Now and Here?

Nature-Based Solutions are no longer a peripheral topic in European climate policy. They are firmly embedded in key EU strategies and regulations, including the Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy 2030, the Climate Adaptation Strategy 2021, the LULUCF Regulation, the Farm-to-Fork Strategy and the Water Resilience Strategy. NBS function as multifunctional climate instruments, simultaneously addressing ecological, social, and economic goals. They are cost-efficient, environmentally compatible, and socially accepted, linking mitigation with adaptation measures.
Literature distinguishes three types of NBS: (1) minimal intervention to preserve (semi-)natural ecosystems, (2) sustainable management of multifunctional landscapes, and (3) intensive interventions or newly created artificial ecosystems. In all cases, the focus remains on human benefits. NBS make climate action tangible, connecting environmental transformation with Europe’s ambitious 2050 climate targets. In cities and municipalities, their full potential becomes visible: green roofs, urban forests, restored floodplains, ecological land-, ressource- and water-management, all improve quality of life, enhance biodiversity, they create spaces for community engagement and local economic cycles. The ELCA Community Support Centers act in this context as hubs for information, collaboration and knowledge transfer, connecting administration, science, civil society, and practitioners and facilitating co-creative problem solving.

ELCA Showcases Climate Action Support Centers and Climate Action Plans at Land4Flood 2025 in Romania

In September, the international Land4Flood 2025 conference at Politehnica University Timișoara, brought together participants from across Europe and the USA, including researchers, practitioners, and representatives from municipalities and civil society. Discussions centered on Nature-Based Solutions and the role of private land in flood risk management. The conference was organized by the Support Center for Climate Actions (SCCA-UPT), established under the EUKI ELCA project, and marked the first major international event fully coordinated by the center. UPT’s participation in prestigious events such as EGU 2025, ECCA, IEES, and SGEM, Land4Flood 2025 represented a major milestone in establishing SCCA-UPT as a regional Romanian knowledge and networking hub. Six months before the project’s conclusion, the ELCA consortium presented in the “Empowering Local Climate Action” workshop, jointly organized by ELCA partners GNE (Germany), PIN (Czech Republic), and UPT (Romania) key achievements, including the full operationalization of two Support Centers, the training content of the new ELCA- Climate Protection Manager (CPM) training, and the facilitation of local co-creation sessions with public administrations, regional stakeholders, and educational institutions. The conference also featured the ELCA project approach as a best-practice example for supporting local climate action and highlighted the development of municipal Climate Action Plans (CAPs).

The workshop emphasized three dimensions of the ELCA approach: capacity development for planning and implementing NbS at local and regional levels; multi-actor governance creating collaborative frameworks between authorities, private landowners, academia, and civil society; and knowledge sharing through workshops, training, and open-access materials. Participants confirmed the importance of integrating NbS into local climate adaptation and mitigation strategies while highlighting that successful implementation requires interdisciplinary teams and participatory governance structures. ELCA representatives actively contributed to sessions, creating synergies with other European projects and identifying ways to scale up tested solutions.

Natural Resilience Resonating Across Europe – Aachen 2025

In October, Aachen became the European hub for the future of Nature-Based Solutions during the LAND4CLIMATE Mid-term Forum, hosted by RWTH Aachen. Again experts, scientists, municipalities, and EU project partners, including ELCA representatives, discussed how to integrate NBS into municipal practice and political decision-making processes. The forum was part of the NBS4EU Cluster initiative, linking seven Horizon Europe projects. In his opening keynote, Professor Erik Andersson (University of Helsinki) emphasized that successful NBS rely on broad collaboration – from urban planning and science to local communities. He also highlighted key gaps, such as insufficient private sector involvement, the lack of prioritization for ecosystem restoration, and technological and institutional hurdles for scaling. Four thematic sessions followed, focusing on evidence and scalability, spatial requirements, funding and policy frameworks, and implementation barriers and solutions. The forum made clear that while NBS are gaining importance across Europe, their real impact depends on stable structures, shared responsibility, and long-term strategies. Full article: LAND4CLIMATE: Natural resilience resonating across Europe (Natural resilience resonating across Europe – People in Need)

The Czech Experience: Recovery After a Tornado and Flash Floods as an Opportunity

The Czech ELCA team presented the municipality of Moravská Nová Ves, struck by a tornado in 2021. In cooperation with the local government, People in Need developed a climate action plan using nature-based measures for both recovery and prevention of future risks. Deputy Mayor Jiří Fila noted: “After the disaster, we didn’t want to simply rebuild what was destroyed – we wanted to create something more resilient.” The project demonstrates how combining biodiversity, community engagement, and impact assessment turns NBS into environmental and social innovations.
Roman Klecker from the Hodonín Community Support Center presented specific NBS flood protection projects in Dolní Bojanovice and discussed challenges in implementation. The topic sparked lively exchanges and brainstorming sessions, demonstrating the growing interest in scalable, effective NBS solutions.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Nature-Based Solutions

Evaluating NBS is complex, as ecological, social, and economic factors must be considered simultaneously. Long-term monitoring, replication, and scaling are essential because the effectiveness of NBS evolves over their lifecycle. Optimal results are achieved by expanding successful projects and adapting institutional frameworks, legal regulations, and societal norms. The methodology, derived from the completed EU project OPERANDUM (2018-2022), combines Open-Air Laboratories with numerical models, monitoring systems, climate projections, land use data, socio-economic contexts, and social acceptance. Hazards reduction, co-benefits, risk assessment, cost-benefit analyses, and knowledge transfer are integrated to capture the complex interactions between NBS and climate risks. In this way, it becomes clear how practical experience combined with structured methodologies transforms Nature Based Solutions into reliable instruments that deliver not only ecological benefits but also socio-economic and political value, driving the implementation of resilient and sustainable climate action at both local and regional levels.

From a National Webinar to a €10,000 Financing Call

Participants across Romania and from abroad attended the webinar on electromobility, organized by Energy Cities Romania (OER) within the Community Mobility Co-operatives (CoMoCo) project. Through this initiative, the CoMoCo team proposes a clear model: communities no longer need to wait for top-down solutions, they can become co-authors of change.

OER invited Reinhold-Lehel Stadler, an urban planner with over 15 years of experience in sustainable mobility, as a guest speaker to the webinar, showcasing how cities are rethinking their transport priorities based on cost (infrastructure or travel), CO₂ emissions, health impacts and the efficiency of urban space planning. He emphasized that electric cars are most beneficial when powered by renewable energy, while walking, cycling or using e-bikes remain the most efficient travel options.

A Call for up to €10,000 for a Community-born Idea

The meeting’s centrepiece was a funding opportunity of up to €10,000 set to empower a community-driven sustainable mobility initiative in Romania. This is a real, tangible chance for a community to set its own idea in motion: it could be a charging station for electric vehicles at an apartment block, a shared space for storing and charging bikes and e-scooters, a charging station for 1-2 shared vehicles in a residential community (with public access), or a charging station for electric vehicles at the workplace, for employees and the general public. However, these examples are not exhaustive.

From Discussion to Action

The call is addressed to homeowners’ associations, NGOs, civic groups, educational institutions, small entrepreneurs and other local organizations that are already doing something for their community or are ready to start now. We are looking for a group of citizens with a common interest, organized in a legal form. In addition to funding of up to €10,000, we offer support through mentoring and personalized training. We do not only finance equipment, but also the process of local learning and transformation.

The webinar was just the beginning.

In the coming period, OER is preparing several dedicated meetings, as follows:

– Practical workshop in Brașov, on 17 January, 2026

– Training session & Co-creation process for backing project submissions, in 31 January 2026.

Between March and December 2026, OER will provide support for the implementation of the winning initiative.

If, while reading these lines, you are already thinking about your city, neighbourhood or community, you are probably already closer to this initiative than you think, so we look forward to seeing you at the practical workshop on 17 January, 2026.

Climate Bridges: connecting regional actors for climate impact

The Climate Bridges Network was created in response to common challenges across the region, including fragmented climate policies, limited institutional coordination, and growing pressure on natural resources and local communities. By fostering cooperation across borders, the network supports civil society organisations in aligning their work with regional and European climate frameworks, including the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans.

The network and its activities are coordinated through EUKI project Climate Bridges – Network in Action, led by the Urban Research Institute (URI) as the lead organisation of the consortium, in partnership with CENER 21, CIPRA International, Zelena Istra, and the Center for Climate Change. Through joint campaigns, advocacy tools, capacity-building activities, and the exchange of good practices, the project enables local initiatives to scale up their impact and contribute to more coherent, people-centred climate governance

Two days of collaboration and joint planning

The two-day meeting in Sarajevo brought together both long-standing and newly joined members of the Climate Bridges Network for open discussion and joint planning. The programme was highly interactive, combining plenary sessions, group discussions, and facilitated workshops that encouraged active participation and exchange.

Participants worked together to identify shared climate challenges across the region, including water pollution, energy vulnerability, air quality, and the need for stronger community mobilisation. These discussions showed that many environmental challenges are common across countries and cannot be addressed effectively in isolation.

The meeting also provided space to share experiences from national and local climate initiatives. Network members exchanged lessons learned, practical examples, and challenges faced in their work, helping to build mutual understanding and strengthen cooperation across borders.

A key focus of the event was the development of ideas for future regional and cross-border actions. Participants jointly explored concepts for awareness-raising campaigns, community-based activities, advocacy efforts, and policy-oriented initiatives. In particular, the meeting enabled initial discussions on the next Climate Bridges regional campaign, which will be further developed and implemented during the coming year.

Interactive workshop session – Participants working in small groups on regional climate challenges and joint actions.
Photo credit: Climate Bridges Team

Climate Champion Contest 2025

The Sarajevo meeting also provided an opportunity to encourage wider participation in ongoing Climate Bridges activities. In this context, the Climate Champion Contest 2025 by the project allows individuals, civil society organisations, youth groups, educational institutions, and local initiatives across the region to submit their applications, ensuring broader participation and representation from Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans.

Throughout the meeting, emphasis was placed on turning climate strategies into practical action at local level. Discussions consistently highlighted the need to move beyond plans and policy documents and focus on implementation that delivers visible results for communities.

Networking Fair: exchanging ideas and building partnerships

An important part of the Sarajevo meeting was the Networking Fair, which provided participants with a dedicated space to present their work, exchange ideas, and explore opportunities for collaboration.

During the fair, organisations showcased their ongoing projects, tools, and initiatives related to climate action, governance, and community engagement. This informal setting allowed participants to engage in direct, one-to-one conversations, learn about each other’s expertise, and identify potential areas for future cooperation, including joint campaigns, project proposals, and cross-border initiatives.

The Networking Fair strengthened connections within the Climate Bridges Network and encouraged new partnerships, reinforcing the network’s role as a platform not only for dialogue, but also for concrete collaboration and joint action.

Networking Fair – Organisations presenting their work and exploring potential collaborations
Photo credit: Climate Bridges Team

A clear message: cooperation is essential

The meeting sent a strong and unified message: regional cooperation is no longer optional. Addressing climate change effectively in Southeast and Central Europe requires shared approaches, mutual learning, and sustained collaboration across borders.

By meeting face to face, network members strengthened trust, built new partnerships, and laid the groundwork for coordinated action in the years ahead.

If you’re interested to engage, please contact us at netw...@....com

The conference was held in the context of the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which sets the trajectory for reducing carbon emissions from the building sector and for increasing both the rate and depth of renovations. With the adoption of the revised Directive, the responsibility now lies with Member States to create the necessary frameworks that will enable large-scale building decarbonisation. This includes addressing long-standing barriers in financing, improving training systems, and attracting a greater number of skilled workers into the sector.

A central feature of the revised EPBD is the introduction of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS). Public buildings are expected to lead by example in terms of both renovation quality and speed. Member States must ensure that 16% of the worst performing non-residential buildings comply with national MEPS by 2030, increasing to 26% by 2033. These objectives are projected to deliver some of the most substantial emission reductions across the building sector.

Beyond emissions and energy savings, well-designed MEPS have the potential to generate a broad spectrum of socio-economic benefits. When effectively implemented, the renovation of the worst-performing buildings can contribute not only to environmental improvements but also to social welfare, economic development, and the enhancement of public services. To fully realise these benefits, Member States will need to address barriers within the building sector while also recognising how MEPS interlink with other policy areas. The conference therefore explored these interdependencies within the context of MEPS for public buildings, focusing on ambition levels, expected impacts, and shared challenges and opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

The expert presentations provided a strong foundation for discussion. Denisa Diaconu, project manager at Buildings Performance Institute Europe, held presentation on Principles for Effective Implementation of MEPS. Francesco Scuderi, Secretary General at Eurovent, discussed MEPS in relation to Indoor Air Quality in public buildings, with special emphasis on educational buildings. Andre Muller from the Institute for Housing and Environment (IWU) delivered a presentation on the Digital tool to plan renovations of the worst performing building stock at scale, sharing experiences from the DataNWG project and demonstrating the ISO building simulator and the LezBAU tool that supports the implementation of MEPS. In her presentation, Breaking the Cycle of Underperforming Renovations in Central and Eastern Europe, Aura Oancea, researcher at the Energy Policy Group, outlined the objectives and concrete outcomes of the EUKI-funded OUR-CEE project. She also highlighted the reasons why CEE countries often struggle with effective building upgrades.

Participants actively engaged with presenters, raising questions particularly related to the implementation of MEPS in the renovation of historical buildings. As an introduction to the panel discussion, Damir Mandic, Business Development Manager at Regional Energy Agency North, presented the document Guiding Framework for the Introduction of Minimum Energy Performance Standards for the Worst Performing Public Buildings, outlining where and how MEPS apply.

A panel discussion followed, featuring representatives from the Hungarian Energy Efficiency Institute (Hungary), Energy Policy Group (Romania), Regional Energy Agency North (Croatia), and the Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect (Bulgaria). Panelists shared their national perspectives on the most pressing challenges in implementing MEPS for public buildings and reflected on the opportunities that the MEPS framework introduces. They also addressed how MEPS can be designed to complement instruments such as Building Renovation Passports and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), ensuring that these instruments reinforce each other. Additionally, the discussion explored how MEPS can be structured to keep public building renovations both energy-efficient and people-centered—particularly in education, healthcare, and social service facilities where user comfort and well-being are crucial. The international Conference concluded with final remarks by Aura Oancea from Energy Policy Group, highlighting the key insights and the importance of continued cooperation across the CEE region in advancing public building renovation.

The project enhanced climate mitigation and reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through an improved pan-European collaboration for the conservation and restoration of peatlands, sustainable agricultural use of peatlands and regeneration of healthy soils. For CEEweb, our working focus was to support the development and enhancement of peatland-related policies by providing information, recommendations and guidance.

During these three years of work, the project and its consortium worked on building an alliance that was born and grew parallel to the development and approval of the Nature Restoration Law — the regulation having entered into force in 2024, the national plans linked to it to be developed by 2026 — which contains binding targets related to restoring drained peatlands. The context thus allowed CEEweb to focus on engaging with and informing key stakeholders about the latest findings on the topic.

As such, we organised workshops and field trips:

• In June 2023, the workshop Improving Central and Eastern European Policy Responses to Protect, Restore and Sustainably Manage Peatlands in the Fight against Climate Warming, held in Tata.
• In November 2023, the webinar National Peatland Strategies and Peatland Restoration Opportunities for Climate Action.
• In April 2024, the hybrid workshop Peatlands as Key Habitats in Climate Mitigation Efforts, held onsite in both Budapest and Fertő-Hanság.
• In May 2025, the international hybrid workshop Conservation of Peatlands: Policies, Funds and Field Experiences, which included a field trip to the Ócsa Landscape Protection Area, part of Hungary’s Danube-Ipoly National Park.

Altogether, our workshops involved 238 participants, 36 presentations (available on our website) and 3 field trips focusing on peatland protection, restoration and sustainable management in CEE countries. Not only that, but our policy research work resulted in the publication of:

• The Role of Peatlands in Climate Mitigation – Policy review from Central and Eastern Europe
• Peatland-related Policies in Six Central and Eastern European Countries: Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
• Integrating Peatland Protection and Restoration as Effective Measures for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Central and Eastern European Region – Summary for policy and decision making
• Policy Recommendations for Improved Peatland Management and Funding in CEE Countries – The role of peatlands in science-based emission reduction pathways for climate change mitigation
• Country overview, facts and recommendations brochures for Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Lithuania.

Moreover, we filmed an impression video, while further thematic publications from the partnership can be found on the project’s main website.

Yes, three years in the making, within which we are grateful to our project partners — Eurosite – The European Land Conservation Network (lead partner), the Michael Succow Foundation – Partner in the Greifswald Mire Centre, and the European Landowners Organisation (ELO) — as well as to everyone who has followed the project or contributed valuable thoughts to our workshops. 

Though small within the bigger picture of peatland conservation, our work has contributed to enhancing the understanding of the significance of peatlands and supported Central and Eastern European (CEE) policymakers and decision-makers in integrating peatland protection and restoration as effective measures for adapting to and mitigating climate change.

And, most certainly, we do not plan to stop there. So keep an eye out for next year!

This progress, however, comes at a crucial political moment.
New Omnibus Simplification proposals currently debated in the European Parliament would significantly weaken the CSRD’s scope and ambition, raising thresholds to companies with over 1,000 employees and €450 million turnover.

Such a change would exempt nearly 90 percent of European companies, undermining both the transformative potential of the EU’s sustainability agenda and the data quality investors, regulators, and businesses themselves depend on.
It would also weaken Europe’s long-term competitiveness and its ability to respond to energy, climate, and technological risks.

Frank Bold’s analysis covered 100 companies from Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), assessing disclosure quality in four areas:
a) climate transition plans, b) GHG emissions, c) double materiality and due diligence, and d) governance.

Across these dimensions, evidence shows that the EU’s legal framework is working, improving comparability, accountability, and climate-risk preparedness among Europe’s largest firms.

Climate risk preparedness

• Companies across the board showed notable improvements on their climate transition planning, with 54% presenting a plan and 73% committing to decarbonisation targets.

• Strinkingly, 40% committed to net-zero targets. Thereby, clearly distinguishing themselves from general carbon neutrality commitments.

• Yet, many plans still lack detail on implementation timelines, interim targets, and financial assumptions—limiting their credibility and comparability.
  

GHG Accounting

• Reporting of Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions is now near-universal, a major leap in transparency.

• Comparability of Scope 3 data has improved, though a minority of companies still provide incomplete or inconsistent information, particularly on supply-chain emissions.

• Carbon removals and offsets remain a blind spot, with few firms disclosing clear strategies or verification details.

Double Materiality and Due Diligence

• Progress is striking: between 2024 and 2025, the share of companies reporting their material impacts and risks and opportunities rose from 15% to 94 percent, and 53% to 94 percent, respectively.

• While most companies (85%) claim to consider their entire value chain, few detailed high risk areas or explain how they are monitored. 

• Similarly, while nearly three-quarters claim to have a due diligence process in place, only 34% link it to due diligence and double materiality, and only 12% explain how that link works in practice.

Managing Sustainability

The EU CSRD became the bridge for sustainability, financial, operational and legal teams to discuss with their leadership the sustainability risks and impacts that are relevant for the strategic development of their business.  

Governance disclosures reveal the maturity of oversight and how sustainability is prioritised at senior levels. While our study shows that sustainability has entered the boardroom, transparency on important actions and decision-making is still missing.  

Regional Differences

• Western European firms generally demonstrate stronger climate transition planning and more complete data, while CEE companies lag behind in identifying and reporting climate risks. This gap exposes CEE firms to greater vulnerability to climate-related shocks and regulatory uncertainty.

• Only a few CEE companies extend their double materiality assessments beyond direct operations to full value chains. This limits their ability to anticipate material risks, impacts and opportunities, reducing supply chain resilience.

• Nonetheless, the gap is narrowing.
  The introduction of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) has begun to level the playing field, particularly in the disclosure of GHG metrics and the financial effects of climate risks.
  

Policy Context: A Framework Under Pressure

Our findings show that Europe’s sustainability reporting rules are effective, but they are being reconsidered just as results become visible. 

The Omnibus I Simplification Package proposes raising thresholds drastically for both the reporting and due diligence legislation. If adopted, these changes would exclude most companies from reporting requirements and the mandatory development of climate transition plans. As warned by the European Central Bank, this will create severe information gaps and undermine business-to-business relations. Additional consequences include the limitation of opportunities for mid-cap companies (in relation to financing or competition with larger companies) and increase financial institutions’ reliance on costly external service providers. 

While intended to reduce administrative burden, such measures risk rolling back Europe’s global leadership on sustainability and weakening corporate resilience to systemic risks. By scaling back, Europe would not only sacrifice data quality but also the tools companies need to navigate the transition to a sustainable economy. 

Looking Ahead

Frank Bold’s report confirms that mandatory reporting under EU standards works; it fosters transparency, comparability, and strengthens the competitiveness of EU companies globally. 

As mentioned by EU Commission’s Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera, Europe’s industry is ready to lead in delivering green, resilient, and high-standard solutions amid a growing $2 trillion global clean tech market.  

High-quality, comparable sustainability data is essential to scale up clean technologies and advance the EU’s strategic goals in energy efficiency and resource autonomy. The CSRD provides the information infrastructure necessary to strengthen Europe’s industrial competitiveness and resilience in the global race for green technologies, and withstand pressure from oil-producing countries to maintain dependence on fossil fuel imports. 

The research, published in October 2025, will be complemented by an open-access database launching in late November 2025, offering detailed company-level data for further analysis. 

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The framework defines the essential components of effective MEPS implementation, including country-readiness assessments, design principles, implementation pathways, and systems for monitoring and evaluation. Conceived as a comprehensive roadmap, it ensures coherence, accountability, and measurable results from the initial planning stage to full-scale adoption. Importantly, it will provide a basis for national decision-makers in Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia as they prepare country-tailored MEPS frameworks and advance the drafting of National Building Renovation Plans (NBRPs) to be submitted to the European Commission by the end of the year. The development of the General Guiding Framework was informed by a series of stakeholder events across the region. In September 2025, the Round Table on Minimum Energy Performance Standards held in Virovitica initiated dialogue with representatives of local authorities on aligning municipal and city activities with new MEPS requirements. Participants highlighted opportunities and barriers to implementation, with conclusions feeding directly into the preparation of the framework.

Further refinement came through the Workshop for national decision makers in Zagreb in June 2025, where representatives from the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets reviewed the framework in the context of the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Discussions focused on national specificities, particularly the challenge of meeting EU targets requiring renovation of at least 16% of the worst-performing non-residential buildings by 2030 and 26% by 2033. This workshop underscored the importance of structured dialogue among policymakers, experts, and practitioners in shaping MEPS as a credible tool for accelerating deep renovations.

Complementing these activities, consultation and policy-oriented roundtables in Romania provided additional insight into national contexts. These discussions brought together central authorities, municipalities, and energy efficiency experts to clarify institutional responsibilities, address potential barriers, and ensure that the upcoming national MEPS guides are feasible and adapted to local realities.

In Bulgaria, EnEffect gathered local and national decision makers at the discussion forum “Mayors Speak,” and held Roundtable on Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS).

The event aimed to spotlight the practical challenges and solutions for implementing sustainable development policies at the local level, and, in addition to local and national decision makers, it also brought together international partners, experts, and citizens from across Bulgaria.

At a time when existing renovation policies fall short of achieving the scale of improvements required, MEPS represent a strategic policy instrument to accelerate the energy transition. By setting minimum performance thresholds and embedding them within a supportive policy framework, they offer a pathway to decarbonisation while unlocking economic and social co-benefits.

REDESIGN project’s General Guiding Framework thus provides a structured and coherent foundation for Member States, paving the way toward effective MEPS implementation and stronger renovation outcomes across Central and Eastern Europe.

During this time three governments were involved and several drafts circulated, commented, amended, withdrawn, forgotten, resubmitted, consolidated, watered down and eventually adopted. At the same time climate change developed from a distant threat into national catastrophe(s): in 2022 the largest forest fires in history hit the country’s coastal region; in 2023 devastating floods affected most of the country and destroyed roads, bridges and whole villages; after decades of tradition the city of Maribor lost the FIS Ski World cup race due to consistent lack of snow; summer heat waves and storms with strong winds, rain and hail have become more frequent and intense. Slovenia is the European country with the highest economic losses per capita and per square meter caused by weather- and climate-related extreme events.

Climate neutrality until 2045 – but the path there is still unclear

Against this background it should be in Slovenia’s self-interest to be a climate leader and try to convince other countries to reduce emissions. And indeed, with the climate law Slovenia upped its long-term climate ambition by moving the target for climate neutrality from 2050 to 2045. This is a necessary step towards consistency with the goals of the Paris Agreement, but not enough. 

Binding intermediate targets for 2035 and 2040 are lacking, which increases the risk for backloading emissions reductions towards mid-century. Moreover, the new law in large parts merely transposes the EU climate acquis without going beyond it with national measures. A small exception is the introduction of a new, albeit very modest, climate tax on flights with private jets of up to 250 EUR per flight. 

Slovenia commits to the emissions trading system for buildings and road transport

Slovenia is at least rather diligent in implementing EU legislation. A central new EU climate policy is the extended emissions trading scheme (ETS) for the sectors buildings and road transport. Several EU member states have not yet transposed the new EU ETS directive into national law. Some even openly talk about not implementing the new ETS at all. 

Slovenia’s climate law transposes the directive and establishes the national Social climate plan, which is intended for the most socially vulnerable. Almost half a billion euros will be allocated to supporting poorer households in reducing their emissions and to eliminating mobility and energy poverty. Slovenia missed the June deadline to submit its national Social climate plan to the European Commission, which is the prerequisite for receiving EU funding, but intends to submit the plan later in autumn 2025.

Climate justice at risk without a phase-out of harmful subsidies

But even the best social climate policy plan – and we do not know yet how good the Slovenian will be – will not be effective if at the same time fossil fuel subsidies are continued. And this is the largest weakness of the new law. It does not only fail to regulate the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies, but industry lobbies even managed to slip in an article entitled reduction of levies and taxes on fossil fuel. By automatically reducing excise duties when emission certificates of the new ETS hit a certain price threshold, the climate law itself introduces a new subsidy. 

This contradicts the polluter pays principle which is supposed to guide the very same law. Moreover, it sends the wrong signal, namely that CO₂ emissions will continue being cheap and unproblematic. In absolute terms this new subsidy benefits the rich much more than the poor and therefore increases the already growing economic inequalities in Slovenia. Such a scattergun approach of reducing excise duties for all disregards the large differences between income groups, both with regards to their responsibility for the climate crisis and their capabilities for reducing emissions.

The share of expenditure on transport by income group and car access in Slovenia in 2022 shows that poorer car owners are very vulnerable to fuel price increases (source: Focus)

The hundreds of millions of euros Slovenia spends on subsidies for fossil fuels could be invested in measures for a just green transition: in better public transport, which would reduce car dependency; in energy-efficient renovations of housing stock, which would reduce household heating costs and improve quality of life; in affordable public housing in the cities, which would reduce the need for daily commuting; in adaptation to the increasingly severe consequences of the climate crisis. In short, reducing dependence on fossil fuels has the potential to lower the prices of basic necessities, improve quality of life, and increase social resilience.

Climate change adaptation planning: prepare for the worst

Finally, the law also manages how climate change adaptation will be addressed by the state. Current assessments and strategies in this field are largely incomplete or outdated.  The law provides for the preparation of a new national strategy, risk assessments for all sectors and regional action plans for adaptation. At the same time a large integrated LIFE project started in 2025, LIFE4ADAPT, which is meant to support the implementation of the Slovenian adaptation strategy over the next seven years by enhancing knowledge, and strengthening institutional capacity.

Lipica, home of the famous Lipizzan horses, is already a drought-prone area and may turn into a savannah by the end of the century (source: Umanotera)

In summary: a mixed bag with several holes

Slovenia’s climate law in its current form will not be a game changer for national climate politics, nor does it serve as a suitable blueprint for other countries. The positive aspects like the 2045 climate neutrality target or the new tax on private jets are mainly symbolic, while controversial issues such as binding national targets from 2030 onwards or the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies have been spared out. It remains to be hoped that at least the plans for better adaptation to climate change and social-climate policy will succeed. This is because climate change and its consequences will continue to intensify in the northern Adriatic region – on the hot side of the Alps.

As partner of the project ClimateFairMonitor Umanotera, the Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development, supports the socially just implementation of ETS2 and SCF aiming to reduce emissions in buildings and transport while empowering stakeholders and promoting equitable climate policy in Slovenia and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe.