Green building advocates ‘underwhelmed’ by EU recovery plan

(EurActiv, 9 Jun 2020) When the European Commission unveiled its proposed €750 billion recovery fund two weeks ago, green activists were expecting a detailed spending programme, with billions of euros allocated to clean mobility, renewables, and an upcoming EU-wide building renovation wave.

What they got in the end was an elaborate plan to borrow hundreds of billions of euros on financial markets that would later be redistributed to hard-hit regions in the form of loans and grants.

To be sure, the recovery plan sent plenty of signals to ecologists. First, the EU executive promised that 25% of the money would be spent on climate-friendly technologies. And a “do no harm” principle applying across the entire EU budget means the most polluting fossil fuel projects should in principle be excluded from receiving EU recovery money.

Moreover, an upcoming EU-wide renovation wave will aim to “at least double the annual renovation rate of existing building stock,” the Commission said, fleshing out earlier announcements by Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.

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EurActiv, 9 Jun 2020: Green building advocates ‘underwhelmed’ by EU recovery plan