Renovating Europe’s buildings – sharing the burden of energy efficiency and carbon savings costs

The European Green Deal has set ambitious targets to reduce EU carbon emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and to reach climate neutrality by 2050. Our homes, schools, offices, and factories are amongst the largest sources of energy consumption in Europe and 75% are not energy efficient. What can be done to accelerate the pace of renovation and who should take responsibility?

These questions come at a critical moment, as the consequences of our energy dependency grow. Climate change will have a significant effect on our livelihoods. At the same time, rising energy prices – exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – are driving the cost-of-living crisis.

These issues were addressed during the Friends of Europe’s online Policy Insight debate on ‘Renovating Europe’s buildings – Sharing the burden of energy efficiency and carbon savings costs’, on 24 May 2022. Chaired by Dharmendra Kanani, the event was organised as part of the European Climate Pact.

The speakers recognised that time is short to meet the targets and that massive investment is needed. “There is no debate any more on why we should do this. The urgency and the ambitions are clear,” remarked Robert Dijksterhuis, Special Envoy for Sustainable Building at the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

The key dilemma is how to speed up the renovation of our buildings, whilst keeping it affordable for everyone. It would be vital to create a distributive financial model, so that the burden does not fall entirely on the shoulders of citizens. Government subsidies, taxation and private sector investment all have a role to play.

Citizen engagement is also seen as key to ensure all views are heard and to encourage consumer behaviour change and buy-in. Our energy transition is a whole-of-society issue and requires a whole-of-society approach. Dharmendra referred to the recently released European Climate Pact Peer Parliament report, which concluded that the most preferred options by citizens to use energy more efficiently and sustainably in your homes are incentives for switching to renewable energy at home and cheaper energy-saving technologies for low-income households.

“It’s a financial challenge, but also an organisational challenge. It requires the active participation of end users. Citizens are key actors,” commented Katharina Habersbrunner, Board Member and Team Leader for Sustainable Energy and Climate Solutions at Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF).

A lot was said about the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable the green transition in our buildings. “What portfolio holders need to know is an enabling technology, namely data analytics and AI, that elevates the availability and quality of data regarding building stock”, said Deniz Sahin, Business Development Manager at METABUILD.

European Climate Pact Ambassador in Poland Anna Staszewska concurred: “We need more digitalisation. We need more databases to show citizens how they could enact changes and how they could use energy properly”.

The speakers made recommendations regarding various strategies and potential technologies to achieve progress in the coming years. It was agreed that more political will is needed in Europe. Assertive leadership at the EU level was seen as critical to help drive necessary action at the national level.

This event was organised as part of the European Climate Pact. The European Climate Pact is a movement of people united around a common cause, each taking steps to build a more sustainable Europe for us all. Launched by the European Commission, the Climate Pact is part of the European Green Deal and is helping the EU to meet its goal to be the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050.