State of Play: EC’s Development Spending on Climate Change Close To 20% (2014-2017)

The European Commission’s DG International Cooperation & Development (DEVCO) financial contributions to climate change and other environmental objectives has reached an historic level of around 19.3% of its total spending over the past four years (2014-2017). This corresponds to an amount of EUR 6.447 out of EUR 33.391 billion.

A positive trend on climate change spending has been observed over the years across all DEVCO instruments and sectors as well as the European Development Fund (EDF). The EU is committed to spending 20% of its total budget for 2014-2020 on climate change.

Contributions to climate action increased from 10.3 % (EUR 607 million) in 2014 to 25.8 % (EUR 2.448 billion) in 2017 (data still not official). This is a significant increase compared to the previous budgetary period (2007-2013), where climate-relevant spending represented 8.1 % of total development and cooperation-related spending.

Both actions that target climate change as a principal objective and those that 'mainstream' climate change as a 'significant objective' make substantial contributions to the EU commitment. Similar positive trends are observed for contributions to environment, biodiversity and combating desertification (29.6 %, 7.1 % and 6.2 % of total commitments in 2017, respectively).

Zooming in on the energy sector, we observe that it is among the largest contributors to climate finance, with an average contribution of 56 % (EUR 1.121 billion) of its sector budget in 2014-2017, reflecting a steady increase from 48 % in 2014 to almost 70 % in 2017. The energy sector primarily contributes to climate change mitigation (69.4 % of sector funding in 2017) as actions aim at renewable energy development and energy efficiency, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But the sector also contributes to climate change adaptation (14% of sector funding in 2017), in particular when energy infrastructure is designed in a climate-resilient manner.

While attention to integration of environment and climate change is growing, there is room for improvement. Projects are not always informed by an analysis of the environmental and climate change risks, and climate vulnerability of infrastructure is seldom addressed. The sector also offers opportunities to contribute to biodiversity and combat desertification, which are often not seized.

Links:

http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/devco/item-detail.cfm?item_id=617911&utm_s…

Data provided by the Environment and Climate Change Mainstreaming Facility (DEVCO C2-C6), with particular attention to the energy sector.