EU Member States should improve investment into low-carbon transition
According to the latest analysis of the absorption of EU funds in the period 2014-2020, Member States have not made sufficient use of available resources to support climate and energy measures. The inefficient use of allocated financial resources from the Cohesion Fund (CF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) has caused the planned transition of the EU to a low-carbon economy to slow down significantly.
The report “Funding climate and energy transition in the EU: the untapped potential of regional funds: Assessment of the European Regional Development and Cohesion Funds’ investments in energy infrastructure 2014 -2020”, published in April 2020 by Climate Action Network Europe, suggests that on average EU Member States allocate only 9.7% of their ERDF and CF to energy efficiency, renewable energy and related infrastructure, and research and innovation for climate action.
Taking into account a significant focus of the EU’s Cohesion Policy funding 2021-2027 on energy and climate issues, the current approach requires a considerable change in order that the upcoming funding becomes an impactful tool to deliver on more ambitious national 2030 targets, and catalyse the transition towards low-carbon economy.
FIRECE project contributes to this process by identification of new innovative financial instruments (IFIs). The project partners closely cooperate with regional and national authorities and are piloting IFIs designed in the previous stage of the project.
