The EU’s long-term budget, the so called Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), sets the spending priorities for the annual EU budgets over a seven-year period. It greatly translates the EU policy objectives into action. It defines objectives, priorities and conditions of EU funding respectively the policies EU funds are supposed to finance.
The EU budget 2021 – 2027 is critically important to deliver the long-term climate goals of the EU, including the revamped 2030 climate and energy targets and climate neutrality by 2040.
The 2014-2020 EU budget had some important climate-relevant features such as “climate mainstreaming”, the strategic link to the EU 2020 climate and energy framework or the political target to spend 20% of the EU budget on climate action. However, fossil fuels still received support from the EU budget, and competing priorities and incoherent implementation of climate action are sweeping off the climate credits of the EU budget. Overall its full potential to catalyse the clean energy transformation in Europe remained largely untapped.
LEARN MORE about the reform opportunities and climate impact of the EU budget.
The EU budget 2021–2027 shows increased climate ambition with an increased climate action target across all EU programmes and the limitation of fossil fuels from Regional Development Funds. A fossil fuel free Just Transition Fund will help carbon intensive regions to become climate neutral.
To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, the European Union needs to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. EU funds must support the decarbonization of all sectors by developing zero-carbon processes and products, enable the just transition, establish a genuine circular economy and foster a transition towards sustainable food systems.
Overview EU funding for climate action
The upcoming development of EU funds’ spending plans at national and regional level as well as for the additional ‘economic recovery plans’ – the ‘programming’ – will ultimately determine the direction of the recovery and future economic developments.
Decision making on the implementation of the next EU budget including the significant amounts of recovery funding is therefore crucial to put the EU on a pathway towards climate neutrality. Investment decisions taken to stimulate the economy need to contribute to achieving more ambitious 2030 climate and energy targets at the same time.
EU financing also needs to embrace the long-term transition to climate neutrality as set down in the European Green Deal. Greater investments in the transition of all sectors of the economy are needed to ensure a sustainable, green and just economic recovery and to shape the EU’s long-term pathway to achieving the Paris Agreement’s objective of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
In order to maximise the impact of EU funding, both to increase climate ambition and to ensure the recovery is sustainable, Member States need to direct their upcoming spending plans towards climate neutrality.
During the programming of Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes under Cohesion Policy, in the development of Territorial Just Transition Plans within the Just Transition Mechanism and while setting priorities for Recovery and Resilience Plans to receive support from the EU’s Recovery Fund, Member States must seize all funding opportunities to catalyse the green, sustainable and just transition, whereas any climate and environmentally harmful spending has to be prevented.
Learn more about the green programming priorities in 14 EU countries.
As organisations committed to tackling the multifaceted crises of our times – from climate change and biodiversity loss to the cost of living and energy independence – we call for a €1 trillion investment plan for people and the planet to be at the top of the agenda for future EU leadership. These challenges are largely an investment challenge, and EU funding is more needed than ever to mobilise and boost public and private financing of Europe’s resilience and competitive sustainability. Political parties’ manifestos all recognise this need. Now is the time to meet citizens’ expectations of a better future, invest in the transformation of our economy, and make good on the promises of the Green Deal. This statement presents our proposal for a Social and Green Investment Plan that would achieve these aims.
The European Commission estimates that compared to the previous decade, additional investments of 1.7% to 2% of European GDP annually will be needed to meet the objectives of the Green Deal and the RepowerEU initiative. And this estimate does not include the very significant additional investment needed in climate adaptation, biodiversity, the circular economy and in socio-economic recovery. Crucially, significant public and private resources need swiftly to be deployed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avoid the potentially catastrophic impacts of runaway climate change. The costs of that transition are substantially lower than the costs of inaction.
Europe stands at a crossroads, with the end of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) in 2026 implying a substantial reduction in investment. It will cut the EU’s financial firepower in half (by about €800 billion). This means about €300 billion less available for climate and nature investment, especially affecting Central and Eastern European and Southern European countries that rely significantly on these funds to help finance their transition.
In addition, the current political agreement on the revision of the EU fiscal framework (notably the debt and deficit rules), despite marginal improvements to the current rules, suggests that austerity is on the cards for many Member States, constraining their fiscal capacity for investing in the green and just transition for the foreseeable future. As only 60% of all green investment needed by 2030 has a “bankable” business case, public investment is crucial. Coupled with the current environment of high interest rates, which places further constraints on both public and private investment, this risks strongly undermining the means to achieve the Green Deal’s 2030 goals.
As such, a new investment plan for the post-Next Generation EU period is urgently needed.
We call for a European Social and Green Investment Plan that fosters a socially fair transition towards a more resilient and fully sustainable Europe, unlocking over €1 trillion by 2030 under a reformed EU budget (MFF) and a new fund via joint borrowing.
While private investment is expected to contribute significantly to the transition, substantial public funding is crucial to steering the economy towards sustainable prosperity, within planetary boundaries. To address these challenges and create a level playing field across the Union, a coordinated, long-term, EU-wide response is imperative. The investment package we’re calling for should support the following:
We need to mobilise at least €1 trillion for green and just transformation investment at EU level (up from around €700 billion in the 2021-27 budget) without cutting spending lines under the MFF that target major social and development objectives. This means we need at a minimum a €2 trillion strong EU budget for the 2028-2034 period, of which 50% must be dedicated to climate and nature-related investment. The future MFF, combined with the €1 trillion investment plan coming from direct borrowing by the European Commission that we call for here, could together reach this goal.
The new investment plan should be based on four pillars:
Delivering this investment plan requires new “own resources” (NORs) for the EU: EU-wide taxation revenues after 2026. Whilst several proposals have been tabled both by the European Commission and the Parliament and should be further pursued, we consider that NORs should be based on socially just progressive taxes and the polluter-pays principle.
Future investments should be grounded on key principles to increase their additionality, fairness and efficiency. They should prioritise the targeting of sectors and actors with limited access to private finance, including vulnerable citizens and communities and small and medium sized enterprises, and be based on a single rulebook of simplified and harmonised procedures. They should place strict transparency, social and environmental conditions on companies benefiting from public support, and ensure all projects comply with strict Do No Significant Harm criteria. Beyond raising the volume of EU financing, the quality of investment should be a priority, by improving the monitoring and tracking of EU and national expenditure as well as absorption.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure that future EU leadership propose an ambitious investment package after the EU elections. The European Council’s “Strategic Agenda” and Commission’s “Political Guidelines” should feature public and private investment as part of their top priorities. The future President of the European Commission should announce the launch of a major investment plan at EU level during their first 100 days in office.
For further contact:
Birdlife Europe and Central Asia: Anouk Puymartin
Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E): Olivier Vardakoulias
European Environmental Bureau (EEB): Katy Wiese
Transport and Environment (T&E): Xavier Sol
WWF European Policy Office (WWF EPO): Tycho Vandermaesen
As organisations committed to tackling the multifaceted crises of our times – from climate change and biodiversity loss to the cost of living and energy independence – we call for a €1 trillion investment plan for people and the planet to be at the top of the agenda for future EU leadership. These challenges are largely an investment challenge, and EU funding is more needed than ever to mobilise and boost public and private financing of Europe’s resilience and competitive sustainability. Political parties’ manifestos all recognise this need. Now is the time to meet citizens’ expectations of a better future, invest in the transformation of our economy, and make good on the promises of the Green Deal. This statement presents our proposal for a Social and Green Investment Plan that would achieve these aims.
The European Commission estimates that compared to the previous decade, additional investments of 1.7% to 2% of European GDP annually will be needed to meet the objectives of the Green Deal and the RepowerEU initiative. And this estimate does not include the very significant additional investment needed in climate adaptation, biodiversity, the circular economy and in socio-economic recovery. Crucially, significant public and private resources need swiftly to be deployed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avoid the potentially catastrophic impacts of runaway climate change. The costs of that transition are substantially lower than the costs of inaction.
Europe stands at a crossroads, with the end of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) in 2026 implying a substantial reduction in investment. It will cut the EU’s financial firepower in half (by about €800 billion). This means about €300 billion less available for climate and nature investment, especially affecting Central and Eastern European and Southern European countries that rely significantly on these funds to help finance their transition.
In addition, the current political agreement on the revision of the EU fiscal framework (notably the debt and deficit rules), despite marginal improvements to the current rules, suggests that austerity is on the cards for many Member States, constraining their fiscal capacity for investing in the green and just transition for the foreseeable future. As only 60% of all green investment needed by 2030 has a “bankable” business case, public investment is crucial. Coupled with the current environment of high interest rates, which places further constraints on both public and private investment, this risks strongly undermining the means to achieve the Green Deal’s 2030 goals.
As such, a new investment plan for the post-Next Generation EU period is urgently needed.
We call for a European Social and Green Investment Plan that fosters a socially fair transition towards a more resilient and fully sustainable Europe, unlocking over €1 trillion by 2030 under a reformed EU budget (MFF) and a new fund via joint borrowing.
While private investment is expected to contribute significantly to the transition, substantial public funding is crucial to steering the economy towards sustainable prosperity, within planetary boundaries. To address these challenges and create a level playing field across the Union, a coordinated, long-term, EU-wide response is imperative. The investment package we’re calling for should support the following:
We need to mobilise at least €1 trillion for green and just transformation investment at EU level (up from around €700 billion in the 2021-27 budget) without cutting spending lines under the MFF that target major social and development objectives. This means we need at a minimum a €2 trillion strong EU budget for the 2028-2034 period, of which 50% must be dedicated to climate and nature-related investment. The future MFF, combined with the €1 trillion investment plan coming from direct borrowing by the European Commission that we call for here, could together reach this goal.
The new investment plan should be based on four pillars:
Delivering this investment plan requires new “own resources” (NORs) for the EU: EU-wide taxation revenues after 2026. Whilst several proposals have been tabled both by the European Commission and the Parliament and should be further pursued, we consider that NORs should be based on socially just progressive taxes and the polluter-pays principle.
Future investments should be grounded on key principles to increase their additionality, fairness and efficiency. They should prioritise the targeting of sectors and actors with limited access to private finance, including vulnerable citizens and communities and small and medium sized enterprises, and be based on a single rulebook of simplified and harmonised procedures. They should place strict transparency, social and environmental conditions on companies benefiting from public support, and ensure all projects comply with strict Do No Significant Harm criteria. Beyond raising the volume of EU financing, the quality of investment should be a priority, by improving the monitoring and tracking of EU and national expenditure as well as absorption.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure that future EU leadership propose an ambitious investment package after the EU elections. The European Council’s “Strategic Agenda” and Commission’s “Political Guidelines” should feature public and private investment as part of their top priorities. The future President of the European Commission should announce the launch of a major investment plan at EU level during their first 100 days in office.
For further contact:
Birdlife Europe and Central Asia: Anouk Puymartin
Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E): Olivier Vardakoulias
European Environmental Bureau (EEB): Katy Wiese
Transport and Environment (T&E): Xavier Sol
WWF European Policy Office (WWF EPO): Tycho Vandermaesen
As organisations committed to tackling the multifaceted crises of our times – from climate change and biodiversity loss to the cost of living and energy independence – we call for a €1 trillion investment plan for people and the planet to be at the top of the agenda for future EU leadership. These challenges are largely an investment challenge, and EU funding is more needed than ever to mobilise and boost public and private financing of Europe’s resilience and competitive sustainability. Political parties’ manifestos all recognise this need. Now is the time to meet citizens’ expectations of a better future, invest in the transformation of our economy, and make good on the promises of the Green Deal. This statement presents our proposal for a Social and Green Investment Plan that would achieve these aims.
The European Commission estimates that compared to the previous decade, additional investments of 1.7% to 2% of European GDP annually will be needed to meet the objectives of the Green Deal and the RepowerEU initiative. And this estimate does not include the very significant additional investment needed in climate adaptation, biodiversity, the circular economy and in socio-economic recovery. Crucially, significant public and private resources need swiftly to be deployed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avoid the potentially catastrophic impacts of runaway climate change. The costs of that transition are substantially lower than the costs of inaction.
Europe stands at a crossroads, with the end of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) in 2026 implying a substantial reduction in investment. It will cut the EU’s financial firepower in half (by about €800 billion). This means about €300 billion less available for climate and nature investment, especially affecting Central and Eastern European and Southern European countries that rely significantly on these funds to help finance their transition.
In addition, the current political agreement on the revision of the EU fiscal framework (notably the debt and deficit rules), despite marginal improvements to the current rules, suggests that austerity is on the cards for many Member States, constraining their fiscal capacity for investing in the green and just transition for the foreseeable future. As only 60% of all green investment needed by 2030 has a “bankable” business case, public investment is crucial. Coupled with the current environment of high interest rates, which places further constraints on both public and private investment, this risks strongly undermining the means to achieve the Green Deal’s 2030 goals.
As such, a new investment plan for the post-Next Generation EU period is urgently needed.
We call for a European Social and Green Investment Plan that fosters a socially fair transition towards a more resilient and fully sustainable Europe, unlocking over €1 trillion by 2030 under a reformed EU budget (MFF) and a new fund via joint borrowing.
While private investment is expected to contribute significantly to the transition, substantial public funding is crucial to steering the economy towards sustainable prosperity, within planetary boundaries. To address these challenges and create a level playing field across the Union, a coordinated, long-term, EU-wide response is imperative. The investment package we’re calling for should support the following:
We need to mobilise at least €1 trillion for green and just transformation investment at EU level (up from around €700 billion in the 2021-27 budget) without cutting spending lines under the MFF that target major social and development objectives. This means we need at a minimum a €2 trillion strong EU budget for the 2028-2034 period, of which 50% must be dedicated to climate and nature-related investment. The future MFF, combined with the €1 trillion investment plan coming from direct borrowing by the European Commission that we call for here, could together reach this goal.
The new investment plan should be based on four pillars:
Delivering this investment plan requires new “own resources” (NORs) for the EU: EU-wide taxation revenues after 2026. Whilst several proposals have been tabled both by the European Commission and the Parliament and should be further pursued, we consider that NORs should be based on socially just progressive taxes and the polluter-pays principle.
Future investments should be grounded on key principles to increase their additionality, fairness and efficiency. They should prioritise the targeting of sectors and actors with limited access to private finance, including vulnerable citizens and communities and small and medium sized enterprises, and be based on a single rulebook of simplified and harmonised procedures. They should place strict transparency, social and environmental conditions on companies benefiting from public support, and ensure all projects comply with strict Do No Significant Harm criteria. Beyond raising the volume of EU financing, the quality of investment should be a priority, by improving the monitoring and tracking of EU and national expenditure as well as absorption.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure that future EU leadership propose an ambitious investment package after the EU elections. The European Council’s “Strategic Agenda” and Commission’s “Political Guidelines” should feature public and private investment as part of their top priorities. The future President of the European Commission should announce the launch of a major investment plan at EU level during their first 100 days in office.
For further contact:
Birdlife Europe and Central Asia: Anouk Puymartin
Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E): Olivier Vardakoulias
European Environmental Bureau (EEB): Katy Wiese
Transport and Environment (T&E): Xavier Sol
WWF European Policy Office (WWF EPO): Tycho Vandermaesen
As organisations committed to tackling the multifaceted crises of our times – from climate change and biodiversity loss to the cost of living and energy independence – we call for a €1 trillion investment plan for people and the planet to be at the top of the agenda for future EU leadership. These challenges are largely an investment challenge, and EU funding is more needed than ever to mobilise and boost public and private financing of Europe’s resilience and competitive sustainability. Political parties’ manifestos all recognise this need. Now is the time to meet citizens’ expectations of a better future, invest in the transformation of our economy, and make good on the promises of the Green Deal. This statement presents our proposal for a Social and Green Investment Plan that would achieve these aims.
The European Commission estimates that compared to the previous decade, additional investments of 1.7% to 2% of European GDP annually will be needed to meet the objectives of the Green Deal and the RepowerEU initiative. And this estimate does not include the very significant additional investment needed in climate adaptation, biodiversity, the circular economy and in socio-economic recovery. Crucially, significant public and private resources need swiftly to be deployed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avoid the potentially catastrophic impacts of runaway climate change. The costs of that transition are substantially lower than the costs of inaction.
Europe stands at a crossroads, with the end of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) in 2026 implying a substantial reduction in investment. It will cut the EU’s financial firepower in half (by about €800 billion). This means about €300 billion less available for climate and nature investment, especially affecting Central and Eastern European and Southern European countries that rely significantly on these funds to help finance their transition.
In addition, the current political agreement on the revision of the EU fiscal framework (notably the debt and deficit rules), despite marginal improvements to the current rules, suggests that austerity is on the cards for many Member States, constraining their fiscal capacity for investing in the green and just transition for the foreseeable future. As only 60% of all green investment needed by 2030 has a “bankable” business case, public investment is crucial. Coupled with the current environment of high interest rates, which places further constraints on both public and private investment, this risks strongly undermining the means to achieve the Green Deal’s 2030 goals.
As such, a new investment plan for the post-Next Generation EU period is urgently needed.
We call for a European Social and Green Investment Plan that fosters a socially fair transition towards a more resilient and fully sustainable Europe, unlocking over €1 trillion by 2030 under a reformed EU budget (MFF) and a new fund via joint borrowing.
While private investment is expected to contribute significantly to the transition, substantial public funding is crucial to steering the economy towards sustainable prosperity, within planetary boundaries. To address these challenges and create a level playing field across the Union, a coordinated, long-term, EU-wide response is imperative. The investment package we’re calling for should support the following:
We need to mobilise at least €1 trillion for green and just transformation investment at EU level (up from around €700 billion in the 2021-27 budget) without cutting spending lines under the MFF that target major social and development objectives. This means we need at a minimum a €2 trillion strong EU budget for the 2028-2034 period, of which 50% must be dedicated to climate and nature-related investment. The future MFF, combined with the €1 trillion investment plan coming from direct borrowing by the European Commission that we call for here, could together reach this goal.
The new investment plan should be based on four pillars:
Delivering this investment plan requires new “own resources” (NORs) for the EU: EU-wide taxation revenues after 2026. Whilst several proposals have been tabled both by the European Commission and the Parliament and should be further pursued, we consider that NORs should be based on socially just progressive taxes and the polluter-pays principle.
Future investments should be grounded on key principles to increase their additionality, fairness and efficiency. They should prioritise the targeting of sectors and actors with limited access to private finance, including vulnerable citizens and communities and small and medium sized enterprises, and be based on a single rulebook of simplified and harmonised procedures. They should place strict transparency, social and environmental conditions on companies benefiting from public support, and ensure all projects comply with strict Do No Significant Harm criteria. Beyond raising the volume of EU financing, the quality of investment should be a priority, by improving the monitoring and tracking of EU and national expenditure as well as absorption.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure that future EU leadership propose an ambitious investment package after the EU elections. The European Council’s “Strategic Agenda” and Commission’s “Political Guidelines” should feature public and private investment as part of their top priorities. The future President of the European Commission should announce the launch of a major investment plan at EU level during their first 100 days in office.
For further contact:
Birdlife Europe and Central Asia: Anouk Puymartin
Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E): Olivier Vardakoulias
European Environmental Bureau (EEB): Katy Wiese
Transport and Environment (T&E): Xavier Sol
WWF European Policy Office (WWF EPO): Tycho Vandermaesen
As organisations committed to tackling the multifaceted crises of our times – from climate change and biodiversity loss to the cost of living and energy independence – we call for a €1 trillion investment plan for people and the planet to be at the top of the agenda for future EU leadership. These challenges are largely an investment challenge, and EU funding is more needed than ever to mobilise and boost public and private financing of Europe’s resilience and competitive sustainability. Political parties’ manifestos all recognise this need. Now is the time to meet citizens’ expectations of a better future, invest in the transformation of our economy, and make good on the promises of the Green Deal. This statement presents our proposal for a Social and Green Investment Plan that would achieve these aims.
The European Commission estimates that compared to the previous decade, additional investments of 1.7% to 2% of European GDP annually will be needed to meet the objectives of the Green Deal and the RepowerEU initiative. And this estimate does not include the very significant additional investment needed in climate adaptation, biodiversity, the circular economy and in socio-economic recovery. Crucially, significant public and private resources need swiftly to be deployed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avoid the potentially catastrophic impacts of runaway climate change. The costs of that transition are substantially lower than the costs of inaction.
Europe stands at a crossroads, with the end of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) in 2026 implying a substantial reduction in investment. It will cut the EU’s financial firepower in half (by about €800 billion). This means about €300 billion less available for climate and nature investment, especially affecting Central and Eastern European and Southern European countries that rely significantly on these funds to help finance their transition.
In addition, the current political agreement on the revision of the EU fiscal framework (notably the debt and deficit rules), despite marginal improvements to the current rules, suggests that austerity is on the cards for many Member States, constraining their fiscal capacity for investing in the green and just transition for the foreseeable future. As only 60% of all green investment needed by 2030 has a “bankable” business case, public investment is crucial. Coupled with the current environment of high interest rates, which places further constraints on both public and private investment, this risks strongly undermining the means to achieve the Green Deal’s 2030 goals.
As such, a new investment plan for the post-Next Generation EU period is urgently needed.
We call for a European Social and Green Investment Plan that fosters a socially fair transition towards a more resilient and fully sustainable Europe, unlocking over €1 trillion by 2030 under a reformed EU budget (MFF) and a new fund via joint borrowing.
While private investment is expected to contribute significantly to the transition, substantial public funding is crucial to steering the economy towards sustainable prosperity, within planetary boundaries. To address these challenges and create a level playing field across the Union, a coordinated, long-term, EU-wide response is imperative. The investment package we’re calling for should support the following:
We need to mobilise at least €1 trillion for green and just transformation investment at EU level (up from around €700 billion in the 2021-27 budget) without cutting spending lines under the MFF that target major social and development objectives. This means we need at a minimum a €2 trillion strong EU budget for the 2028-2034 period, of which 50% must be dedicated to climate and nature-related investment. The future MFF, combined with the €1 trillion investment plan coming from direct borrowing by the European Commission that we call for here, could together reach this goal.
The new investment plan should be based on four pillars:
Delivering this investment plan requires new “own resources” (NORs) for the EU: EU-wide taxation revenues after 2026. Whilst several proposals have been tabled both by the European Commission and the Parliament and should be further pursued, we consider that NORs should be based on socially just progressive taxes and the polluter-pays principle.
Future investments should be grounded on key principles to increase their additionality, fairness and efficiency. They should prioritise the targeting of sectors and actors with limited access to private finance, including vulnerable citizens and communities and small and medium sized enterprises, and be based on a single rulebook of simplified and harmonised procedures. They should place strict transparency, social and environmental conditions on companies benefiting from public support, and ensure all projects comply with strict Do No Significant Harm criteria. Beyond raising the volume of EU financing, the quality of investment should be a priority, by improving the monitoring and tracking of EU and national expenditure as well as absorption.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure that future EU leadership propose an ambitious investment package after the EU elections. The European Council’s “Strategic Agenda” and Commission’s “Political Guidelines” should feature public and private investment as part of their top priorities. The future President of the European Commission should announce the launch of a major investment plan at EU level during their first 100 days in office.
For further contact:
Birdlife Europe and Central Asia: Anouk Puymartin
Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E): Olivier Vardakoulias
European Environmental Bureau (EEB): Katy Wiese
Transport and Environment (T&E): Xavier Sol
WWF European Policy Office (WWF EPO): Tycho Vandermaesen
As organisations committed to tackling the multifaceted crises of our times – from climate change and biodiversity loss to the cost of living and energy independence – we call for a €1 trillion investment plan for people and the planet to be at the top of the agenda for future EU leadership. These challenges are largely an investment challenge, and EU funding is more needed than ever to mobilise and boost public and private financing of Europe’s resilience and competitive sustainability. Political parties’ manifestos all recognise this need. Now is the time to meet citizens’ expectations of a better future, invest in the transformation of our economy, and make good on the promises of the Green Deal. This statement presents our proposal for a Social and Green Investment Plan that would achieve these aims.
The European Commission estimates that compared to the previous decade, additional investments of 1.7% to 2% of European GDP annually will be needed to meet the objectives of the Green Deal and the RepowerEU initiative. And this estimate does not include the very significant additional investment needed in climate adaptation, biodiversity, the circular economy and in socio-economic recovery. Crucially, significant public and private resources need swiftly to be deployed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avoid the potentially catastrophic impacts of runaway climate change. The costs of that transition are substantially lower than the costs of inaction.
Europe stands at a crossroads, with the end of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) in 2026 implying a substantial reduction in investment. It will cut the EU’s financial firepower in half (by about €800 billion). This means about €300 billion less available for climate and nature investment, especially affecting Central and Eastern European and Southern European countries that rely significantly on these funds to help finance their transition.
In addition, the current political agreement on the revision of the EU fiscal framework (notably the debt and deficit rules), despite marginal improvements to the current rules, suggests that austerity is on the cards for many Member States, constraining their fiscal capacity for investing in the green and just transition for the foreseeable future. As only 60% of all green investment needed by 2030 has a “bankable” business case, public investment is crucial. Coupled with the current environment of high interest rates, which places further constraints on both public and private investment, this risks strongly undermining the means to achieve the Green Deal’s 2030 goals.
As such, a new investment plan for the post-Next Generation EU period is urgently needed.
We call for a European Social and Green Investment Plan that fosters a socially fair transition towards a more resilient and fully sustainable Europe, unlocking over €1 trillion by 2030 under a reformed EU budget (MFF) and a new fund via joint borrowing.
While private investment is expected to contribute significantly to the transition, substantial public funding is crucial to steering the economy towards sustainable prosperity, within planetary boundaries. To address these challenges and create a level playing field across the Union, a coordinated, long-term, EU-wide response is imperative. The investment package we’re calling for should support the following:
We need to mobilise at least €1 trillion for green and just transformation investment at EU level (up from around €700 billion in the 2021-27 budget) without cutting spending lines under the MFF that target major social and development objectives. This means we need at a minimum a €2 trillion strong EU budget for the 2028-2034 period, of which 50% must be dedicated to climate and nature-related investment. The future MFF, combined with the €1 trillion investment plan coming from direct borrowing by the European Commission that we call for here, could together reach this goal.
The new investment plan should be based on four pillars:
Delivering this investment plan requires new “own resources” (NORs) for the EU: EU-wide taxation revenues after 2026. Whilst several proposals have been tabled both by the European Commission and the Parliament and should be further pursued, we consider that NORs should be based on socially just progressive taxes and the polluter-pays principle.
Future investments should be grounded on key principles to increase their additionality, fairness and efficiency. They should prioritise the targeting of sectors and actors with limited access to private finance, including vulnerable citizens and communities and small and medium sized enterprises, and be based on a single rulebook of simplified and harmonised procedures. They should place strict transparency, social and environmental conditions on companies benefiting from public support, and ensure all projects comply with strict Do No Significant Harm criteria. Beyond raising the volume of EU financing, the quality of investment should be a priority, by improving the monitoring and tracking of EU and national expenditure as well as absorption.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure that future EU leadership propose an ambitious investment package after the EU elections. The European Council’s “Strategic Agenda” and Commission’s “Political Guidelines” should feature public and private investment as part of their top priorities. The future President of the European Commission should announce the launch of a major investment plan at EU level during their first 100 days in office.
For further contact:
Birdlife Europe and Central Asia: Anouk Puymartin
Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E): Olivier Vardakoulias
European Environmental Bureau (EEB): Katy Wiese
Transport and Environment (T&E): Xavier Sol
WWF European Policy Office (WWF EPO): Tycho Vandermaesen
As organisations committed to tackling the multifaceted crises of our times – from climate change and biodiversity loss to the cost of living and energy independence – we call for a €1 trillion investment plan for people and the planet to be at the top of the agenda for future EU leadership. These challenges are largely an investment challenge, and EU funding is more needed than ever to mobilise and boost public and private financing of Europe’s resilience and competitive sustainability. Political parties’ manifestos all recognise this need. Now is the time to meet citizens’ expectations of a better future, invest in the transformation of our economy, and make good on the promises of the Green Deal. This statement presents our proposal for a Social and Green Investment Plan that would achieve these aims.
The European Commission estimates that compared to the previous decade, additional investments of 1.7% to 2% of European GDP annually will be needed to meet the objectives of the Green Deal and the RepowerEU initiative. And this estimate does not include the very significant additional investment needed in climate adaptation, biodiversity, the circular economy and in socio-economic recovery. Crucially, significant public and private resources need swiftly to be deployed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avoid the potentially catastrophic impacts of runaway climate change. The costs of that transition are substantially lower than the costs of inaction.
Europe stands at a crossroads, with the end of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) in 2026 implying a substantial reduction in investment. It will cut the EU’s financial firepower in half (by about €800 billion). This means about €300 billion less available for climate and nature investment, especially affecting Central and Eastern European and Southern European countries that rely significantly on these funds to help finance their transition.
In addition, the current political agreement on the revision of the EU fiscal framework (notably the debt and deficit rules), despite marginal improvements to the current rules, suggests that austerity is on the cards for many Member States, constraining their fiscal capacity for investing in the green and just transition for the foreseeable future. As only 60% of all green investment needed by 2030 has a “bankable” business case, public investment is crucial. Coupled with the current environment of high interest rates, which places further constraints on both public and private investment, this risks strongly undermining the means to achieve the Green Deal’s 2030 goals.
As such, a new investment plan for the post-Next Generation EU period is urgently needed.
We call for a European Social and Green Investment Plan that fosters a socially fair transition towards a more resilient and fully sustainable Europe, unlocking over €1 trillion by 2030 under a reformed EU budget (MFF) and a new fund via joint borrowing.
While private investment is expected to contribute significantly to the transition, substantial public funding is crucial to steering the economy towards sustainable prosperity, within planetary boundaries. To address these challenges and create a level playing field across the Union, a coordinated, long-term, EU-wide response is imperative. The investment package we’re calling for should support the following:
We need to mobilise at least €1 trillion for green and just transformation investment at EU level (up from around €700 billion in the 2021-27 budget) without cutting spending lines under the MFF that target major social and development objectives. This means we need at a minimum a €2 trillion strong EU budget for the 2028-2034 period, of which 50% must be dedicated to climate and nature-related investment. The future MFF, combined with the €1 trillion investment plan coming from direct borrowing by the European Commission that we call for here, could together reach this goal.
The new investment plan should be based on four pillars:
Delivering this investment plan requires new “own resources” (NORs) for the EU: EU-wide taxation revenues after 2026. Whilst several proposals have been tabled both by the European Commission and the Parliament and should be further pursued, we consider that NORs should be based on socially just progressive taxes and the polluter-pays principle.
Future investments should be grounded on key principles to increase their additionality, fairness and efficiency. They should prioritise the targeting of sectors and actors with limited access to private finance, including vulnerable citizens and communities and small and medium sized enterprises, and be based on a single rulebook of simplified and harmonised procedures. They should place strict transparency, social and environmental conditions on companies benefiting from public support, and ensure all projects comply with strict Do No Significant Harm criteria. Beyond raising the volume of EU financing, the quality of investment should be a priority, by improving the monitoring and tracking of EU and national expenditure as well as absorption.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure that future EU leadership propose an ambitious investment package after the EU elections. The European Council’s “Strategic Agenda” and Commission’s “Political Guidelines” should feature public and private investment as part of their top priorities. The future President of the European Commission should announce the launch of a major investment plan at EU level during their first 100 days in office.
For further contact:
Birdlife Europe and Central Asia: Anouk Puymartin
Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E): Olivier Vardakoulias
European Environmental Bureau (EEB): Katy Wiese
Transport and Environment (T&E): Xavier Sol
WWF European Policy Office (WWF EPO): Tycho Vandermaesen
CAN Europe Headquarters
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Rue d’Edimbourg 26
1050, Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 28944670
CAN Europe empowers civil society organisations to influence the design and development of effective climate change policy in Europe, both in the European Union as well as in its Member States and in European countries outside the EU.
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