EU climate investments lagging 'well below' target: report
BRUSSELS: Climate investments in the 27-nation EU are still far below what is needed to transition away from fossil fuels, a new report warned Tuesday, spotlighting lagging investments in wind power and building renovation.
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After a stretch of sustained growth, public and private investments in key climate-related sectors, energy, buildings, transport and clean-tech manufacturing, have been flatlining in recent years, said the report by the Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE).
Between 2022 and 2023, EU-wide investments grew from 491 to 498 billion euros, with the data available so far for 2024 pointing to a slowdown, the think tank found.
Present investment levels were "well below" what the bloc needs to meet its 2030 emissions reduction goal, which the institute estimates to require 842 billion euros each year.
The findings contrast with the signal sent by the European Commission, which last week declared the bloc on track to meet its 2030 target of slashing planet-warming emissions by 55 percent compared to 1990 levels.
The commission's upbeat projection was based on the energy and climate plans drawn up by EU member states.
"It's easy to set goals, more difficult to implement the policies," cautioned Jean Pisani-Ferry, the I4CE's chair, at the report's launch in Brussels.
Wind power and energy renovations in older buildings are falling especially short, with investments at around one third of what is needed, the report said.
Solar power investments, however, were on the right track.
The I4CE did not factor in investments in nuclear power, which it says remain outside the scope of its report because "the EU does not have precise objectives to develop nuclear energy."
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The EU's vice president for the clean transition, Teresa Ribera, who was present for the report's launch -- acknowledged the investment shortfall was a "point of concern".
"We can do better," she said, arguing that "a lot of strengths are not fully exploited" within the bloc.
The EU has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, and says it has already cut emissions by 37 percent compared to 1990.
Brussels now needs to agree on an interim target for 2040, expected to be unveiled on July 2, with the commission seeking to cut emissions by 90 percent compared to 1990 levels.
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