Slovakia

Slovakia drops six places in the current CCPI to 46th, ranking it among the overall low performers. The country receives a high rating in GHG Emissions, low in Energy Use, and very low in Renewable Energy and Climate Policy.

As part of its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), Slovakia in 2019 adopted a decarbonisation strategy through 2050. It set a national emissions target for 2030 of a 22.7% reduction in emissions from sectors outside the EU Emissions Trading Scheme compared with 2005, above the EU’s 15% average. However, the CCPI country experts feel the necessary policies are not in place for achieving this target. The experts also criticise the NECP’s renewable energy target – currently 23% of final energy consumption by 2030 – as too low. Nuclear power is also included in the plan for decarbonising the energy sector.

Support for Fossil Fuels Persists and Future Climate Policy Improvements are in Question

Though the country’s main coal-fired power plant was shut down in December 2023, subsidies for fossil fuels are still in place. The experts note that support for natural gas is particularly high, as the country has a dense gas network and cross-border interconnections with all neighbouring countries. The same applies to the oil network. The experts are concerned that the current environment minister has revived the idea of building a liquefied natural gas terminal in Bratislava on the Danube, seeing this as unnecessary.

In energy use, the experts criticise the lack of decarbonisation policies for industry and weak policies for promoting electric vehicles. Regarding the Recovery and Resilience Plan, the experts note that the energy efficiency of buildings is rather strongly regulated, aiming at large-scale renovation of single-family houses.

Internationally, the experts say that Slovakia lags behind, or even opposes, EU goals in many areas, such as opposing ambitious renewable energy targets at the EU level. Nevertheless, the country’s environment minister voted in favour of the Nature Restoration Law in the EU Council in February 2024, despite heavy domestic criticism.

Overall, the current government has stalled on climate policy, leading the experts to doubt future climate policy improvements. The experts recommend more ambitious climate targets to increase energy efficiency, especially in industry and low-carbon transport, and a plan to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.

Key Outcomes

CCPI Experts

National experts that contributed to the policy evaluation of this year’s CCPI chose to remain anonymous.