The forefront of the EU support programmes to develop investments for green energy and smart cities is available online

On October 28th the European Energy Efficiency Fund led a large online event on the EU programmes which develop investments for green energy and smart cities. The webinar was organized in collaboration with the European Commission and European Investment Bank.

More than 100 attendees from 18 countries and 59 different organizations had the opportunity to interact with the EU policy makers, as well as with the managers of the eeef and of the other main programmes in Europe bridging the gap between sustainable energy plans and actual investments.

Margot Pinault, responsible at the European Commission for funding schemes to energy efficiency and clean energy, illustrated how these sectors are at the forefront of the entire EU effort to recover from the covid-19 crisis, as the transformation toward a low-carbon economy substantially contributes to create new opportunities for investments and employment.

The EU Commission explained the elements of economic stimulus in the Green Deal and how they relate to the proposed target of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction of 55% by 2030, against the previous 40%. The 55% target is indeed a challenge the Member States can catch as an opportunity for economic relaunch. Strengthened standards will scale-up additional investments especially in the energy efficiency sector and contribute between 0.25 and 1.1% to GDP growth. Out of estimated more than EUR 340 billion of new investments triggered per year in the window 2021-2030, the strongest concentration is on clean mobility and energy efficiency in buildings.

The Head of the Energy Efficiency and Small Scale Renewables Division at the EIB, Ralf Goldmann, pointed to the eeef and claimed: “We set up the European Energy Efficiency Fund 10 years ago to become a sustainable business model (…) I am happy to see the developments of the eeef, which has been achieved in the last decade on that from the start, where everything just happened from one idea”. In a forward-looking perspective, Ms Pinault recalled the role of the eeef to advance sustainable energy in Europe and further highlighted that the fund is one of the three instruments to leverage private investments for the EU Recovery and the upcoming renovation wave of buildings.

The webinar is available online via the link https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/14277/445377?utm_campaign=add-to-calendar&utm_medium=calendar&utm_source=brighttalk-transact.

The European Energy Efficiency Fund (eeef) S.A., SICAV-SIF is a "société d'investissement à capital variable" governed by Luxembourg law and initiated by the European Commission in cooperation with the European Investment Bank. eeef increased the initial capitalisation provided by the European Commission with contributions from the sponsors European Investment Bank, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Deutsche Bank. eeef is an innovative public-private partnership dedicated to mitigate climate change through energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy in the Member States of the European Union.