Although the need for ambitious climate action is widely accepted across the EU, concerns have grown in recent years regarding the fair distribution of transition costs and benefits across regions and social groups. These two dimensions of a just transition – territorial and distributional – have gained importance since 2019. The update of the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) is a crucial moment to firmly embed these issues within the long-term climate and energy strategies. The project assesses how the national plans in Poland, Germany, Italy and Bulgaria protect regions and social groups vulnerable to the effects of the transition.

The aim of the initiative is to develop universal analytical tools for evaluating national plans from a just transition perspective, and to support countries in designing strategies that ensure a fair distribution of the burdens and benefits of the transition.

As part of the project, a list of good governance criteria is developed to assess the NECP in four selected EU countries: Poland, Germany, Bulgaria and Italy. Both the procedures and the content of the documents are scrutinised. Activities include coordinating the work of an international consortium, synthethising findings into comprehensive analytical reports, and organising an international meeting to present the results.

The outcome of this work is an editable evaluation matrix and detailed analyses assessing the NECP in four selected countries. Each report is produced in the national language and in English. The data collected provides a reliable knowledge base on the socio-economic challenges of particular coal-mining regions in the analysed countries. Two reports are produced for each country: one assesses the draft version of the NECP, and the other evaluates the final version of the document (or the latest available version). The project’s conclusions for future energy transition governance frameworks in the European Union have been compiled in a summary policy brief.

The analysis provides evidence of the need for strategic planning of the energy transition in Europe in the spirit of social justice. It helps to more effectively reconcile emission reduction targets with social security for citizens, thereby preventing an uneven distribution of costs and increasing public acceptance for climate polices.

The Reform Institute serves as the leading partner of the international consortium, responsible for developing comprehensive research methodology and coordinating assessments for all four countries.

The project is carried out with partners from the respective countries: the BlueLink Foundation (Bulgaria), ECCO (Italy) and the Ecologic Institute (Germany).