About the process

As Lithuania moves towards climate neutrality, the Eighteenth Programme of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania envisages agreeing with society and business on how the National Climate Change Management Agenda (the Agenda) will be implemented in different sectors of the economy, in other words, how we will achieve the 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. To make this a reality, the National Energy and Climate Action Plan (NECP) is being updated. In order to achieve a high quality result, the Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, together with the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania, is setting up sectoral decarbonisation working groups, where representatives of business, science and NGOs will agree on GHG reduction measures. The update of the NECP is an important part of the implementation of the international climate change objectives set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement and the EU climate change and energy policy mitigation (GHG reduction) goals and targets until 2030.

The main strategic documents integrated into the NECP are the National Energy Independence Strategy, approved in June 2018, the Agenda 2021 update and the National Air Pollution Reduction Plan approved in April 2019. Therefore, the NECP measures need to be in line with the objectives set out in these strategies, which will not only contribute to achieving the European Green Deal objectives, but also to being competitive, to undertake a transformation away from fossil fuels, and to changing consumer behaviour.

This process will involve the social partners, who will be brought together in 5 decarbonisation working groups covering 5 economic sectors in Lithuania: agriculture and forestry, energy, industry, transport and waste/circular economy. Members will be briefed on existing and planned NECP measures, OECD expert analysis, participate in discussions and propose additional measures to achieve the 2030 mitigation targets.

The process will be carried out in several stages and will take about one year:
I. Analyse and discuss the scope and likely effect of the measures adopted;
II. Compile lists of possible measures and assess their effectiveness and costs;
III. Compile a list of measures proposed by the NECP and submit it to the NECP Working Group in the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.

The Decarbonisation Working Groups will aim for an open and effective dialogue, to hear new ideas and different views, and to ensure information sharing among all stakeholders. Only by consulting and discussing with representatives of business, science, other organisations, and public groups can a set of measures best suited for Lithuania to meet the challenges of climate change be developed.