Social Climate Fund

The SCF was created alongside the ETS2 for emissions from fuel combustion in buildings, road transport and additional sectors. It will provide Member States with dedicated funding so that the most affected vulnerable groups, such as households in energy or transport poverty, are directly supported, and not left behind during the green transition.

Member States may use the SCF to support structural measures and investments in energy efficiency and renovation of buildings, clean heating and cooling and integration of renewable energy, as well as in zero- and low-emission mobility solutions. Moreover, Member States will have the option of spending part of the resources on temporary direct income support.

All these measures and investments will be compiled in national Social Climate Plans following a country-wide consultation. Member States will submit these plans to the European Commission by June 2025. The Commission will assess the plans and disburse payments to the Member States only if the milestones and targets set in the plans are achieved.

To finance these measures and investments in support of the most vulnerable groups, the SCF will pool revenues from the auctioning of allowances from the ETS2 as well as 50 million allowances from the existing EU ETS. Together with a mandatory 25% contribution of the Member States to their Social Climate Plans, the SCF should mobilise at least €86.7 billion over the 2026-2032 period.

To facilitate the implementation of the SCF, the Commission launched a dedicated initiative to help Member States develop their Social Climate Plans under the Technical Support Instrument. 10 Member States will be supported through this instrument over the 2024-2025 period.

The Commission is also enabling an exchange of good practices among Member States through a dedicated formation of the Commission Expert Group on Climate Change Policy (CCEG).

To amplify the positive impact of this exchange and mobilise all stakeholders, the Commission published two notes in cooperation with external consultants and Member States representatives in the CCEG. The first note covers the good practices of cost-effective measures and investments that could be included in the Social Climate Plans. Meanwhile, the second note focuses on good practices for public consultations related to the Social Climate Plans.

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