The regional COP process represents a new stage in the process of making environmental planning more local in France.
NECPlatform
Strengthening multilevel governance in national energy and climate policies
News from NECPlatform
European cities should be able to contribute to Energy and Climate laws. This peer learning programme may make it possible.
Valentine CrossePosted on November 4, 2024
After two years of experimentation in six Member States, it’s time to share the conclusions with other countries and to support them in implementing permanent multilevel dialogues to work on national Energy and Climate laws.
Missed deadlines and missed goals: why have local authorities been underestimated in the NECP writing process?
Valentine CrossePosted on July 3, 2024
Stakeholders involvement and permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues are key to a virtuous NECP.
The assessment is in! The European Commission reviewed the 21 draft national energy and climate plans submitted by Member States
Valentine CrossePosted on January 11, 2024
The assessment presents a mixed picture; according to the Commission, at this stage, the draft NECPs are not yet sufficient to meet the EU’s 2030 targets.
What makes it tougher or easier for cities to meet their climate and energy targets?
Valentine CrossePosted on October 11, 2023
Read the full analysis about local governances participation and role in national climate and energy decision-making process in six focus countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal, and Romania.
How to get different levels of government to work together on climate and energy policies?
Allison Le CorrePosted on May 15, 2023
Are you trying to get different levels of government to work together on climate and energy in your country? Find inspiration in successful examples from across the world that will help put your initiative on the right track.
The revision of National Energy and Climate Plans: an opportunity to bring local and regional governments to the national stage
Allison Le CorrePosted on May 5, 2023
Six countries are seizing the opportunity of the revision of National Energy and Climate Plans to redefine how energy and climate policies are governed in their countries. See what they are doing to bring local governments to the national stage.
National climate plans are not involving local decision-makers as they should
Allison Le CorrePosted on October 25, 2022
Five local leaders from across Europe highlight the need for better multilevel dialogue in the drafting of new National Energy and Climate Plans during the Political Launch of the new LIFE-funded project NECPlatform in October 2022.
Press releases
Achieving EU Climate and energy goals will not happen without multilevel governance
On the 18th of March 2025 over a hundred participants met at the Europeam Committee of the Regions in Brussels, gathered by the NECPlatform project, to discuss multilevel governance and hear from good practices at various levels. 11 high-level speakers, among which was Urszula Zielinska, the Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment Secretary of State, stressed the importance of strengthening multilevel governance when revising the Governance Regulation, and to ensure support is provided for its implementation.
The impact of multi-level climate and energy dialogues on EU Climate and Energy Goals
LIFE-funded project NECPlatform concludes after 30 months, demonstrating the key role multi-level climate and energy dialogues have in reaching the EU Climate and Energy Goals. A final high-level event in Brussels, organised over 2 days, gathers policymakers and other stakeholders from several Member States, to share lessons learnt and see how to make the EU legislation more ambitious.
External articles
The LIFE NECPlatform project, kicked off late 2022, aims at supporting six EU Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal, and Romania) transition to climate neutrality by setting-up and managing permanent multi-level Climate and Energy Dialogue (CED) Platforms in line with Article 11 of the Energy Union Governance Regulation.
The objective of NECPlatform is to reinforce the national policy frameworks of the six target countries to design an inclusive governance model that in the future could be replicated in other Member States.
Takeaways from the REGILIENCE training session on multi-level governance on adaptation
In a report released in March 2024, the European Environment Agency lists 36 major climate risks for Europe, for which we need to prepare. Extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding, as experienced in recent years, will worsen in Europe even under optimistic global warming scenarios and affect living conditions throughout the continent.
NECPs: meeting the deadlines while ensuring dialogue challenging for Member States
The first versions of EU Member States’ National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) were submitted in 2020 as part of the Energy Union governance process: the European Commission pointed out in the first assessment of the plans that the NECPs had not involved local and regional authorities and stakeholders as they should have.
Within the NECPlatform LIFE project, six Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal and Romania) were supported in setting up such dialogues. Upon meeting in Lisbon to join the country’s 3rd CED, each country (and partner) provided updates on where they stand in the target of setting up the 6 dialogue platforms.
In July 2024, OER, partner in the NECPlatform project, had the opportunity to participate in the fifth meeting of the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation (P-TECC).
This policy brief aims to highlight the benefits of multilevel governance processes, specifically the Climate and Energy Dialogues (CED), to meet EU and Member States’ climate and energy targets.
Promoting Dialogue and Collaboration Between National and Local Authorities in Romania
A new meeting of the Climate and Energy Dialogue Platform took place in Bucharest, organized within the NECPlatform project, under the umbrella of the conference “Integrating the local perspective into national energy and climate strategies”.
LIFE behind the scenes of the clean energy transition
Not all LIFE projects feature eye-catching technologies or bring devastated habitats back to life. Some — such as LIFE NECPlatform — work quietly behind the scenes, but their impact is just as important.
Not all LIFE projects feature eye-catching technologies or bring devastated habitats back to life. Some — such as LIFE NECPlatform — work quietly behind the scenes, but their impact is just as important.
NECPlatform project experiences clearly show that multilevel dialogues are practical solutions for speeding up the implementation of the Green Deal and removing existing obstacles.
The project partners managed to overcome obstacles, from political crises to facing difficulties in gathering various stakeholders, and the experience gained has been shared through a Peer-to-peer learning programme which has been running since January 2025 and will end at the end of March 2025.
Upcoming Events
Multi-Level Governance: A Key to EU Climate and Energy Goals
Date: 18/03/2025
Place: Committee of the Regions (CoR), Room VMA 21 – 99/101 , Rue Van Maerlant 2 – Brussels, Belgium
Multi-level governance was crucial for drafting the National Climate and Energy Plans (NECPs) and will become ever more important in the coming years to implement existing legislation and plans.
Since 2022, the NECPlatform project has organised more than 30 multi-level energy and climate dialogues in 6 Member States paving the way for additional countries willing to establish and implement Climate and Energy Dialogue platforms.
This final event of the project will be the opportunity to hear and discuss its findings.
Don’t miss out!
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