EU Announces €2.3 Billion Over 2 Years for Green Transition

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a two-year plan of 2.3 billion euros from the EU budget for the energy transition “in our region and around the world.”

This initiative, launched by von der Leyen during COP 28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, complements the billion-euro global green bond initiative that was launched in the summer of 2023. Overall, EU members have pledged to invest “more than 20 billion in energy cooperation in Africa alone,” the President of the European Commission announced, explaining that “every land deserves clean, affordable, and self-sufficient energy.” The benefits of renewable energy sources also include the fact that they produce clean and local energy, so they make the countries that use them more independent.

“Today this could be a turning point to ensure clean energy goes global and to put the world on track to meet the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement,” continued von der Leyen, who once again emphasized the importance of “climate finance.”

In this way, resources could be found to invest in the transition. “Last year, the European Union contributed almost $30 billion in climate finance for developing countries. We have been continuously working towards achieving the target of 100 billion by the end of this year. We have committed to doubling funding for adaptation. And it is our priority to ensure that the new loss and damage fund can launch without delay.”

At the same time, the European politician is convinced that the plan to move “from billions to trillions” must be adopted. For this reason, she expressed appreciation for the proposals from the Presidents of Kenya and France, William Ruto and Emmanuel Macron, who pushed for identifying new taxes, to raise more funds to contribute to the green transition.

And once again, von der Leyen spoke about the importance of green bonds and a “carbon price,” instruments that were already considered fundamental at the time of the African climate summit in September 2023: setting an international price on carbon emissions can, on the one hand, promote innovation by private individuals and, at the same time, establish a fair price to the biggest polluters, while allowing for reinvestment in the clean transition of developing countries.