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Spending 658 billion euro on climate action: assessing the impact, effectiveness, and institutional implications of EU climate funding

Activity: Talk or presentation / Performance / SpeechesPerformance, Talk or Presentation - not at conferenceAcademic

Description

For the period 2021-2027, the EU wants to spend 30% of its budget on ‘climate action’, amounting to 658 billion euro. This presentation addresses three questions about this target and EU climate funding. First, how is the money spent: through which programs, and under which conditions? Most of this funding does not have climate change mitigation as its main objective, but is primarily directed at other EU policy areas, such as agriculture and cohesion. It is nonetheless classified as climate action, because the policies concerned can in some cases contribute to mitigating climate change. Secondly, how does the funding align with other EU environmental laws and policies? The EU has adopted many rules over the last few years to address climate change, the biodiversity crisis and pollution. Does this climate funding complement, reinforce, or potentially undermine these rules? A new principle of EU environmental law is related to funding: projects should “do no significant harm”, but the question is whether this principle is operationalized effectively. Lastly, the question is raised how this funding fits in the broader framework of European integration. Does the funding for climate change mitigation have an impact on how the EU as a whole is governed?
Period27 Feb 2025
Event titleEnvironmental Law Lecture Series: Strengthening EU Environmental Law: Legal Perspectives on Greening Europe
Event typeOther
LocationMaastricht, NetherlandsShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational