The Sustainable Europe Investment Plan (SEIP) is the financial arm of the European Green Deal, created for financing European economies’ transition to zero-carbon emissions and expected to mobilise at least €1 trillion over the next decade. A key element of the plan is the creation of a Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) aimed at supporting those carbon intensive regions of the EU – such as coal-mining areas – where moving to climate neutrality will be more complex.
However the Sustainable Europe Investment Plan provides hardly any new and additional financial resources, it is mainly repurposing and re-labelling existing funds which initially are very close to the claimed objectives. It continues to provide for harmful fossil fuel subsidies by promoting gas and the upgrades of fossil fuel based installations. And finally the plan omits to hold polluters to account by allowing countries to pay off coal plants for their eventual early closures.
Briefing paper: Just Transition and Sustainable Europe Investment Plan Briefing CAN Europe March 2020
