There are many promising ways in which the next EU budget could help EU Member States achieve their climate and energy targets. Explicitly targeting EU public spending towards climate could send a signal to other investors, creating a shift in financial flows. Existing legislative proposals the door already ajar, but concrete improvements are needed to push it open, analysis by Ecologic Institute shows.

The European Union is currently pursuing two important processes that can mutually support one another: implementing its 2030 climate and energy targets and defining the EU budget for the years 2021-2027. An Ecologic Institute analysis points out several ways to effectively connect EU funding with climate action and identifies hooks in the proposed legislation. The analysis is available for download.

Within the Paris Agreement, the European Union (EU) committed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced in the EU by 20% between 1990 and 2020, and by at least 40% between 1990 and 2030, with the aim of keeping the global temperature rise well below 2°C. In order to achieve this, Europe has to invest approximately 179 billion € additionally per year. The post-2020 EU budget could contribute to this sum and help to engage private investors. In this regard, the Ecologic Institute analyzes the EU Commission’s proposals on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027.