As the Cancun Climate Change Conference kicks off, the Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, the Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard and the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle announced today specific climate change “windows” in all EU regional Investment Facilities. These “windows” indicate the financing and enable tracking of all climate change related projects funded by the EU, the European Investment Bank and other European Finance Institutions through these facilities. They encompass both public and private investments in strategic areas like transports, energy, environment, water, sanitation and forests.
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What exactly will the Climate Change Windows actually do?
Climate Change Windows (CCW) will have 3 main specific features:
* They will be established in a way which will allow the EU to track in full transparency the projects related to climate change in the different sectors of intervention of the Investment Facilities, such as: clean energy, renewable energy, energy efficiency, transport, private sector, forest conservation etc. and to get all necessary statistics related to these projects.
* It will allow the EU to clearly report on amounts related to all climate change projects financed whether on existing resources or on new fresh resources without any confusion between these two categories.
* By using the system of blending grants from the EU Budget with loans from the different EU financing Institutions and of regional or local banks, the Climate Change Windows will increase the leverage of credits and the volume of investment projects related to climate change.
Is it new money?
Climate Change Windows will include both projects financed on the existing resources and projects financed on new fresh resources like for instance the EU Fast Start funding and additional climate change funding coming from Member States or other resources in the years to come.
Which countries will benefit from it?
Potentially all partner countries involved in the EU cooperation or development policy may benefit from these Climate Change Windows in the different regions covered by the Investment Facilities (Neighbourhood Countries, Africa, Central Asia, Latin America etc.)
The existing facilities include already over 100 eligible countries and more will be included in the years to come.
How will this scheme help people in developing countries?
By decreasing green house gas emissions and promoting low carbon development, as well as by reducing the vulnerability of natural systems to the impact of climate change, Climate Change Windows will benefit all people living in developing countries.
In parallel, these climate change projects will also provide to developing countries citizens better or increased resources in clean energy, will improve their means of transportation and preserve their natural environment (forest, water etc.).
Examples of climate projects financed under the Facilities:
200 MW Wind Farm project in the Gulf of El Zayt/Egypt
* Total Cost: 340 million
* NIF support: 10 million for investment
* Co-financing Institutions: European Commission, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), European Investment Bank (EIB)
The project is part of a national programme supporting the governmental objective of expanding electricity production from renewable energy sources.
Linking REDD+ mechanism with local implementation / Mexico
* Total Cost: 337 million
* Latin America Investment Facility (LAIF) support: 2 million for TA
* Co-financing Institutions: European Commission, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID)
The project will contribute to better forest management. It will have a huge impact in terms of biodiversity conservation as all the watersheds are located in biodiversity hot-spots.
How is this initiative different to what the EU is already doing in this area?
Climate Change Windows will at the same time increase EU actions in the field of climate change and enable the International Community and all our partner countries to be fully informed in a transparent and accountable way of all projects financed by the EU to fight against negative effects of the climate change.
Examples of EU funded climate-related projects
Source: European Commission
