Policy Brief n°8 - Sustaining climate action: towards synergy politics for durable political support

Key messages: 

• Climate policies fail politically when they worsen living standards and durable ambition requires making the transition an improvement in affordability and
  access to essential services.
• Integrated policy packages combining climate action and social protection achieve faster decarbonization and reduced inequalities. They ensure stronger political support than carbon taxation or growth-based strategies alone.
• Fair and visible redistribution of climate revenue is indispensable: households must see clear, near-term and local benefits to transitioning.
• Job Guarantees, universal access to low-carbon mobility and affordable housing are key to preventing territorial backlash and maintaining trust in the transition.
• Synergy politics - pursuing climate ambition in ways that improve everyday livelihoods and well-being of people - offers a plausible route for the EU to achieve an ecologically effective, socially just and politically durable transition.