[Digest] Study presentation: Cohesion Policy and Climate Change

How EU Cohesion Policy contributes to reaching the goals of EU Climate Policy? On 25 May, Dr Andrea Ciffolilli from Ismeri Europa made a presentation of the study “Cohesion Policy and Climate Change”. In view of the importance of fighting climate change, EU institutions have been setting increasingly ambitious targets such as reducing Green House Gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, and becoming the first carbon neutral continent by 2050. EU Cohesion Policy is essential for supporting Member States in achieving these goals. Approximately EUR 56.5 billion of Cohesion Policy funds (ERDF, CF and ESF) were assigned for climate action in 2014-2020, which is 15.9% of the total planned Cohesion Policy funds. In 2021-2027, the amount planned for climate change is expected to increase to at least EUR 77.2 billion. This is roughly 25% of the total for Cohesion Policy, a significantly higher share than in the past. The presented study provided an assessment of how the design of Cohesion Policy takes climate actions into account. It analysed the obligations resulted from the Paris Agreement and the role of Cohesion Policy in the context of the European Green Deal. The study presents recommendations regarding the upcoming Cohesion Policy in the programming period 2021-2027 and beyond with a view to integrate Climate Policy objectives. At the end of the presentation, the Chair of the REGI-committee, Younous Omarjee, thanked the author of the study and underlined the study’s importance for the work of the REGI Committee. If you want to learn more about the conclusions and recommendations of the study, have a look at the block below. Presentation: Watch video of the event (with multilingual interpretation): Further reading: Cohesion Policy and Climate Change