Climate investments in the EU economy grew by 9 per cent in 2022, but whilst the European Green Deal is gaining economic momentum, investments must double for the EU to hit 2030 climate targets.

Research organisation The Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE) tracked the EU27 public and private investments made in 22 sectors (including wind power, building renovation, electric cars, and others) that are critical to the transformation of the energy, building and transport systems. Investments in those sectors have been growing by 9 per cent between 2021 and 2022, reaching €407bn in 2022.

However, an overall average yearly investment of at least €813 is needed, leaving a shortfall of €406bn per year. By comparison, explicit and implicit fossil fuel subsidies in the EU have increased and reached €290bn in the year 2022 (IMF, 2023).

In short, the current levels of public and private investments represent only half of total investments needed to occur every year to deliver on the EU 2030 targets for the energy, buildings, and transport sectors.

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