Dr Essam Elnagar, Senior Data Analyst at the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) and co-author of the fourth edition of the EU Buildings Climate Tracker, discusses the report's main findings in a recent interview. This tool assesses the progress of Europe’s building stock towards climate neutrality through indicators covering emissions, energy consumption, renewable energy and renovation investment.

In his view, the results reveal a mixed picture: while some indicators are moving in the right direction, the overall pace remains insufficient to meet the 2050 targets. Elnagar points out that the growth of renewable electricity and the reduction in energy consumption in the services sector stand in contrast to the limited progress in residential buildings, where energy renovation and the replacement of fossil-fuel-based heating systems are advancing far too slowly.

The analyst argues that the immediate priority should be to accelerate the deployment of renewable heating and increase investment in the renovation of the residential building stock, making full use of the European legislative framework already in place. He also stresses that building decarbonisation should not be viewed solely as a climate issue, but as a social one as well. The fact that millions of households are still unable to keep their homes adequately warm or are living in poor housing conditions demonstrates that energy efficiency is closely linked to health, housing affordability and energy security. In this context, he argues that renovation policies should place people at the heart of the transition and prioritise those living in the least energy-efficient buildings.