Devastating climate change will happen unless we stop urgently burning fossil fuels – including for home heating. In 2021, ECOS pushed policymakers to ban all new fossil fuel boilers as of 2025, and policymakers finally started to listen: key countries such as Germany aligned with our position and called for a phase-out. In addition, the European Commission proposed a more ambitious energy label for boilers, which will mean an incentive for companies to innovate and develop more efficient heating appliances.

Most homes in Europe still use gas or oil for heating. For the EU to become a net-zero emissions bloc by 2050, we need a massive switch to readily available alternatives.

Political will is the single most important tool in this process. A window of opportunity for change is now open as the European Commission reviews its ecodesign regulation, setting minimum requirements for boilers on the EU market. The EU will also introduce a revamped scale for the boilers energy label, ‘downgrading fossil fuel appliances to the lowest F and G classes’. The label is meant to guide consumers towards the most efficient appliances.

The revision process started in 2018 and should be completed by 2023. As a result, the Commission will raise the bar for the energy efficiency of appliances – albeit proposed gains on the table are so far marginal. Throughout 2021, ECOS and the Coolproducts campaign called on EU officials to increase their ambition, go one step further and phase out all fossil-fuel-operated appliances as of 2025.

Clean heating not a pipe dream

When the Commission started its review of ecodesign and energy labelling provisions for home heating boilers, the ambition was minimal. For example, the much-needed rescale of the energy label was even out of the question. However, thanks to years of experience in ecodesign work, ECOS saw the enormous potential this revision could have in accelerating the phase-out of fossil heating.

Why phase out now? Gas and oil heating systems, once installed, typically remain in service for over 20 years, often up to 25. It is simple maths: for Europe to fully abandon fossil fuel heating by 2050, no new boilers should be installed after 2025. At the moment of writing, we only have 4 years left!

Leading the NGOs within the Coolproducts campaign, ECOS took action and made our voice heard right from the start. As soon as the Commission published its preparatory study, we called for a review that reflected society’s need to break free from fossil fuels.

We then consistently repeated our call for more ambition. In November 2020, we finally noticed a shift in the approach taken by the consultants in charge of the Commission’s follow-up study. For the first time, a revision of the label was considered as a policy option for the new regulation – in line with Coolproducts demands.

In December 2020, we published the influential ‘Five Years Left’ report, explaining how a full ban on the sales of fossil fuel heating appliances could be achieved through ecodesign, including an extensive technical analysis on how it could be carried out.

Feeling the heat at the Consultation Forum

Ecodesign and energy labelling are powerful tools to reach the EU’s environmental goals. However,  their elaboration process is highly technical. So much so that rule reviews do not follow the ordinary legislative EU procedure. Instead, a Consultation Forum (CF) of national experts decides on the changes to be introduced.

The CF met in September 2021 to discuss ‘space and water heaters’ As usual, far from the limelight. Aiming to put pressure on representatives and raise awareness among the public, we conducted a range of actions calling on EU countries to ramp up their ambition.

In doing so, we led a coalition of 30 organisations from across Europe to send a letter to European Commission’s Vice President Frans Timmermans, asking for the phase-out of fossil heating. Before the summer, we had sent another letter to EU Commission leaders including similar demands, co-signed by 15 NGOs.  

In parallel, we intensified our media efforts and explained to journalists why we need to decarbonise heating appliances as soon as possible. As a result, the  issue was covered by 30+ media outlets in 7 different languages, including live coverage on national TV & radio and national news agencies.

Finally, shedding light on the outcomes of the CF meeting, we produced a series of maps summing up the position of EU member states on the matter.

Yesterday, EU countries debated the end of fossil-fuel #boilers. This is their position:

🟢🇩🇪 🇫🇷 🇩🇰🇸🇪 🇦🇹 want to phase out fossil boilers through #ecodesign

🔴🇮🇹 🇪🇸🇵🇹 want to keep fossil boilers on the market & burn #hydrogen

Details on our map #EndFossilHeating 👇 pic.twitter.com/X4ZiAGMpqO

— Coolproducts.eu (@CoolproductsEU) September 28, 2021

Changing the name of the game

 Our advocacy around the 2021 Consultation Forum was a culmination point for over two years of efforts. During this time, we consistently participated in technical meetings, met with Commission policy officers, influenced EU member state representatives, developed detailed technical analyses, and forged alliances with progressive industry players.

We were glad to see progress at the Consultation Forum: the Commission proposed a new energy label which exceeded the ambition of our demands. This was a major change. Two years earlier, EU policymakers had refused to discuss the possibility of rescaling the energy label.

The support for a phase-out from several EU countries, spearheaded by Germany and France, has allowed us to hope. More countries might introduce national bans on fossil fuel boilers by 2025 as recommended by the IEA. Whether EU governments will rise to the challenge remains to be seen in the coming months. A vote by EU member state representatives will determine the level of real ambition.

The EU is well placed to begin this global transition. But if we do not act now, we will suffer the consequences well beyond 2050. It’s simple maths.