The report ‘Securing Romania’s Energy and Climate Future’ analyses the capacity of Romania’s updated Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) to address the challenges of energy security, affordability, and climate transition. The document acknowledges significant progress: greater coherence in planning, an expanded number of measures, and a strengthened regional approach. Strategic projects or nuclear expansion could consolidate supply security, while electrification and renewable deployment bring greater resilience to the system. However, the study warns that these advances coexist with persistent risks: vulnerabilities stemming from ageing infrastructure, pressure on energy prices, dependence on major projects whose success relies on delivery capacity, and a gap between political ambition and effective implementation. It also highlights that public acceptance of the transition remains, but is conditioned by perceptions of costs and their distribution.

In this context, the building sector plays a central role. The report stresses that buildings are one of the key areas for reducing consumption, emissions, and energy poverty, due to a highly inefficient building stock and an estimated saving potential of between 40% and 50%. The revised NECP addresses this challenge and significantly raises the sector’s decarbonisation target to a 19% reduction in emissions by 2030, driven by greater adoption of heat pumps, solar thermal systems, and deep renovations, compared with previous targets that were clearly insufficient. Even so, the renovation rate remains far from what is necessary to reach the 3.4% annual level estimated by European strategies, limiting the real impact of current policies.

The report also links the low energy performance of buildings to energy poverty, which disproportionately affects vulnerable and rural households. Much of the difficulty in maintaining adequate thermal conditions is explained by poor building envelopes and outdated heating systems, making the residential sector a critical point of risk for the stability of the energy system. Although the plan introduces instruments such as local one‑stop shops, an interministerial committee dedicated to vulnerable consumers, and a broader approach to support schemes, the study considers that these measures remain fragmented and do not yet constitute a comprehensive renovation strategy, especially in light of the arrival of ETS2 and its distributional effects.

In sum, the document positions the building sector as a structural pillar of Romania’s climate transition. The potential for savings, emission reductions, and improved energy resilience depends directly on accelerating building renovation, improving institutional coordination, and ensuring stable financing. Without a decisive intensification in this sector, the transition pathway risks stagnation despite advances in planning and energy security.