Money is not the problem in solving climate change, says the Commission. Then what is?

Money is not the problem. When it comes to tackling climate change, the problem is a lack of “mature projects”. That’s according to Patrick Child, European Commission Deputy Director-General for the Environment (DG ENV), speaking at the Friends of Europe’s event ‘The EU on a mission: rethinking governance and policymaking’.

“I don’t think there’s a shortage of money in the European system to meet the challenges of climate change at the moment. What there’s is a shortage of clear, mature projects to be funded”, said Child, who is also the Mission Manager for the European Union Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. “There’s never been more money in the European system for these types of investments than the [present] moment”, he emphasised.

A different picture was painted by Jan Olbrycht, Vice-Chairman of the Group of the European People’s Party. “Different commissioners, different ministers and each of them is fighting for their own money. This is the old story and that’s why the concept of Missions is really changing the way of thinking. It’s horizontal by definition”, said Olbrycht, who is also a Member of the CONT Committee and the President of the URBAN Intergroup at the European Parliament.

EU Missions were introduced by the Horizon European research and innovation programme. The Missions intend to support Europe’s transformation into a greener, healthier, more inclusive and resilient continent by advocating for a drastic restructuring of governance and policymaking.

While Patrick Child highlighted the merits of the EU Missions for engaging citizens – Child even shared he had visited “private homes to talk to people about the impact European policies have on their daily lives” – researcher Julia Leventon warned about the dangers of burdening citizens. “In the EU there are tensions when engaging citizens at higher levels, [for example], lower turnout, shift to populism. Yes, it’s good that we’re involving citizens but there’s also the risk that we’re going to burden them”, cautioned Leventon, who is a professor at the Czech Academy of Science’s Global Change Research Institute.

– ENDS –

Contact us

For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Catarina Vila Nova
Press and Communications Officer
catarina.vilanova@friendsofeurope.org
press@friendsofeurope.org