Achieving the EU’s climate neutrality and climate adaptation objectives requires substantial investments in all sectors of the economy. Accordingly, it is essential to ensure that all finance flows – private and public, national and EU level – are aligned with these objectives.
Complementing other instruments at European level (including the EU’s Sustainable Finance Framework and revenues generated under the EU Emission Trading System) the EU budget has an important role to play in supporting the EU’s climate objectives.
We estimate that over the 2021-2027 period, climate finance under the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the post-Covid NextGenerationEU recovery instrument will amount to €658 billion (over 34% of total budget commitments).
Climate expenditure is also mainstreamed in all major EU spending programmes including Cohesion Policy, the Common Agricultural Policy, the Connecting Europe Facility, EU’s research programme Horizon Europe as well as the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
On 16 July 2025, the European Commission presented a proposal for an MFF covering the 2028-2034 period amounting to almost €2 trillion (€2000 billion). The Commission proposed that 35% of this amount (over €700 billion) should be spent on climate and environment measures.
For more information see:
Useful documents
- Climate Action Progress Report 2024 (Chapter 6)
- 05/2017 - Statement of estimates of the European Commission for the financial year 2018 (Preparation of the 2018 Draft Budget)
- 21/03/2017 - Council conclusions 7495/17 on the special report 31/2016, adopted by ECOFIN
- 11/2016 – European Court of Auditors' Special report No 31/2016: Spending at least one euro in every five from the EU budget on climate action: ambitious work underway, but at serious risk of falling short
- 09/2016 - Mid-term review/revision of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020
- 08/03/2014 - Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 215/2014 of 7 March 2014 laying down rules for implementing Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund with regard to methodologies for climate change support, the determination of milestones and targets in the performance framework and the nomenclature of categories of intervention for the European Structural and Investment Funds
- 19/11/2013 - An EU budget for low-carbon growth
- 08/02/2013 - European Council Conclusions of 7-8 February 2013 on MFF 2014-2020 including provision on at least 20% climate related expenditure
- 23/10/2012 - European Parliament Resolution of 23 October 2012 on MFF 2014-2020 strongly supporting the Commission’s proposal to mainstream measures to combat climate change with the aim of at least 20 % of expenditure being climate-related
- 29/06/2011 - "A budget for Europe 2020 – Part II: Policy fiches" - Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the Committee of the Regions
Documents pertaining to the 2014-2020 period
- Climate Change and Major Projects
- Integrating Climate Change Information and Adaptation in Project Development
- Tracking climate expenditure
- Climate action in ESIF - Introduction to the series of Fact Sheets on the potential for mainstreaming of climate action and the assessment hereof - ESIF - European Structural and Investment Funds - 2014-2020
- Potential for climate action - Examples of how to mainstream climate action and the potential for doing so - ERDF - European Regional Development Fund - 2014-2020
- Potential for climate action - Examples of how to mainstream climate action and the potential for doing so - CF - Cohesion Fund - 2014-2020
- Potential for climate action - Examples of how to mainstream climate action and the potential for doing so - ETC - European Territorial Cooperation under the European Regional Development Fund - 2014-2020
- Potential for climate action - Examples of how to mainstream climate action and the potential for doing so - ESF - European Social Fund - 2014-2020
- Potential for climate action - Examples of how to mainstream climate action and the potential for doing so - EAFRD - European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development - 2014-2020
- Potential for climate action - Examples of how to mainstream climate action and the potential for doing so - EMFF - European Maritime and Fisheries Fund - 2014-2020
- Assessment of climate action - How to assess the mainstreaming of climate action in Partnership Agreements – ESIF - European Structural and Investment Funds - 2014-2020
- Assessment of climate action - How to assess the mainstreaming of climate action in Operational Programmes – ERDF and CF - European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund - 2014-2020
- Assessment of climate action - How to assess the mainstreaming of climate action in Operational Programmes – ETC - European Territorial Cooperation under the European Regional Development Fund - 2014-2020
- Assessment of climate action - How to assess the mainstreaming of climate action in Operational Programmes – ESF - European Social Fund - 2014-2020
- Assessment of climate action - How to assess the mainstreaming of climate action in Rural Development Programmes – EAFRD - European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development - 2014-2020
- Assessment of climate action - How to assess the mainstreaming of climate action in Operational Programmes – EMFF - European Maritime and Fisheries Fund - 2014-2020
Studies
- 07/2025 - Report: Mainstreaming climate and environmental objectives in EU funding programmes in the post-2027 period
- 09/2017 - Report: Climate mainstreaming in the EU budget: Preparing for the next MFF
- 04/2017 - Study on the mainstreaming of adaptation into the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) 2014-2020
- 13/06/2016 - Study on the mainstreaming of climate action into the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) 2014-2020
- 10/09/2015 - Study on climate mainstreaming in the programming of centrally managed EU funds
This page was last updated on 9 October 2025