Brussels aims to mobilize 100,000 million euros in seven years to finance the climate transition

The European Commission wants to mobilise €100 billion between 2021 and 2027 to support the “irreversible” transition to a carbon-neutral economy in EU regions most dependent on fossil fuel production.

Brussels has presented on Wednesday the European Green Deal, its climate roadmap for the coming years, which however does not specify what the specific budget of the so-called Just Transition Fund will be.

The European authorities will reserve this figure until January, but COMMUNITY sources speak of a range of about 7,000 and 8,000 million to which the States will be able to add cohesion funds or loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

In this way, the Community Executive trusts that the initial money will be used to mobilize investments that exceed three digits. That is, to reach 100,000 million euros for the entire period between 2021 and 2027 and to be shared among all European regions that will have access to this fund.

This piggy bank is one of the star points of the European Green Deal with which the Commission wants to guide the ‘green’ strategy of the bloc. It is a roadmap that will materialize in the coming months through legislative proposals, including the first European climate law, which the EU Executive will present in March to crystallize in a legal text the objective of achieving climate neutrality by mid-century.

In this context, Brussels wants the entire strategy to be guided by the bloc’s greater climate ambition on climate, which will be evident in the summer of 2020 with an upward revision of the target to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030, which is currently set at 40%.

Raise the emissions reduction target

According to the European Green Deal, the Commission plans to establish it between 50% and 55%, an increase that will require the revision of all the regulations approved in recent years to distribute the efforts between both European capitals and the different industrial sectors.

Among these legislative changes is the reform of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) to make the price of emissions more expensive. The maritime sector, hitherto excluded, will become part of the system, which will also reduce the free credits granted to airlines.

The EU will accompany all its efforts with increased activism at the international level to encourage other countries to increase their ambition in the climate fight through ‘green’ diplomacy focused on ‘convincing and supporting’ other countries to take a more active role in this area.

In any case, the Commission will propose the creation of a mechanism to tax imports from sectors that have a significant “carbon footprint”. Although the debates on this system are still pending, Brussels has promised that it will comply with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Beyond the greater ambition in terms of reducing emissions and the ‘green’ diplomacy that Brussels wants to deploy, the European Green Deal presented on Wednesday also proposes other measures, such as a new European industrial strategy or a new action plan on the circular economy.

The document also announces initiatives to boost the renovation of more energy-efficient buildings, strategies to ensure the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity, develop greener farming and accelerate the transition to “clean and smart” mobility.

Source: Expansión