EU Climate Action

Sixteen projects selected for a grant under the Innovation Fund’s second call for small-scale projects have signed their grant agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), the implementing body of the Fund. They will benefit from grants amounting to a total of around EUR 60 million, funded by revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS).

The EU’s Innovation Fund, financed by the revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), is one of the world’s largest investment programmes for net-zero and innovative green technology. With a grant of €143 million from the Fund, the HYBRIT Demonstration project aims to put green steel on the market before 2030.

On 8 June, the European Union's Modernisation Fund has disbursed €2.4 billion to 31 projects in seven beneficiary countries to help modernise their energy systems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in energy, industry and transport, and improve energy efficiency.

Re-wilding forests with Eurasian lynx, boosting farming with hi-tech bio-stimulants and helping one of Europe’s biggest cities adapt to climate change are among the winning projects announced at the EU’s prestigious annual LIFE Awards.

On 13 June, the Commission has put forward a new package of measures to build on and strengthen the foundations of the EU sustainable finance framework. The aim of the package is to ensure that the EU sustainable finance framework continues to support companies and the financial sector, while encouraging the private funding of transition projects and technologies.

On 15 June, the EU Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change published a report with recommendations on the EU climate target for 2040. The report confirms that the EU 2030 target of at least 55% reduction compared to 1990 enables reaching the recommended 2040 target range and climate neutrality by 2050.

On 28 June, the Commission adopted the annual emission allocations for Member States for 2023, 2024 and 2025. This sets the maximum level of greenhouse gas emissions that each Member State can generate per year in the sectors covered by the European Union’s Effort Sharing legislation.

Provisional data published by the European Environment Agency shows the average CO2 emissions of new cars registered in Europe in 2022 reached new lows, down 27% below 2019 levels, thanks to the stricter emission targets that came into force in 2020.

On 28 June, the European Commission and the High Representative adopted a Joint Communication laying out how the EU will address the growing impact of climate change and environmental degradation in the fields of peace, security, and defence.

President Ursula von der Leyen attended the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, France. The summit gathered heads of state and government, representatives of financial institutions, and representatives of the private sector and civil society who examined the interactions between multilateral development bank reform, mobilisation of private capital, climate finance, green infrastructure and solutions related to debt.

Delegates representing more than 100 Parties to the Paris Agreement have met in Bonn, Germany, paving the way to some key decisions for the UN Climate Conference (COP 28) in Dubai, and for the years to come.

On 7 June, President von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Timmermans and High-Representative/Vice-President Borrell met with COP28 President Designate Dr Al-Jaber to discuss preparations for COP28, which will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in Autumn.

As our climate changes, the weather is becoming more extreme. The European Environment Agency (EEA) looks at what might happen this summer; the impact of past weather events; what we can expect in the long term; and how prepared we are as a society.

The study - jointly prepared by the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) - analyses the impact of climate change on defence-related critical energy infrastructure and identifies approaches for climate resilience and multinational collaboration, contributing to EU's 2050 climate neutrality goals.

This study by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) discusses how understanding the links between population dynamics and the causes and consequences of climate change will help design future-looking policies for a greener planet.

Launched by the European Commission, the Pact is part of the European Green Deal and is helping the EU to meet its goal to become climate-neutral by 2050 | Check out the links below to visit the Pact website and subscribe to the Pact newsletter!