EU budget plan falls far short on climate goals, researchers say

(EurActiv, 14 Jul 2020) A European Commission proposal for the European Union’s long-term budget and recovery fund risks leaving a huge shortfall in the “green” investment needed to meet Europe’s climate goals, researchers said on Tuesday (14 July).

With the coronavirus pandemic plunging the EU into a deep recession, leaders from its 27 countries will meet in Brussels on Friday to attempt to agree the bloc’s budget for 2021-27 and an economic stimulus fund.

The EU Commission has proposed a €1.85 trillion package, which it says will drive a recovery in Europe’s virus-hit economies based on “green” industries and technologies that help to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases fuelling climate change.

But only €80 billion are firmly earmarked for climate protection, according to an analysis by the consultancy Climate & Company and think tank Agora Energiewende, both German-based, being published on Tuesday.

That would pale against the €2.4 trillion in low-carbon investments that the researchers said were needed by 2027 to meet the EU’s current emissions-cutting goals.

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EurActiv, 14 Jul 2020: EU budget plan falls far short on climate goals, researchers say