The European Court of Auditors (ECA) believes that the European Union needs to invest more and differently if it wants to completely end air pollution. Moreover, the EU is not doing enough to ensure that current subsidies and investments are redirected towards sustainable activities.
In addition to government subsidies, substantial private and public investments are required for the transition to a net zero emissions economy. In a special report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA), a call is made for more consistent action from the EU. Earlier, the Court of Auditors already advocated for the introduction of the âpolluter paysâ principle in agriculture as well.
âEU action on sustainable finance will only be fully effective if additional measures are taken to price the environmental and social costs of unsustainable activities,â said Eva Lindström of the European Court of Auditors.
âUnsustainable business remains too profitable. The European Commission has done much to highlight this lack of sustainability, but this underlying issue still needs to be addressed.â
The main problems are that the negative environmental and social impacts of unsustainable activities are not accounted for, and that it is unclear what is sustainable and what is not. The Court of Auditors believes that additional measures are necessary to ensure that the total environmental costs are reflected in the price of greenhouse gas permits.
Many economic activities in the EU are still carbon-intensive. To achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, the European Commission estimates that approximately an additional 350 billion euros per year will be needed in the energy system alone.
Experts have estimated that achieving net zero emissions in the EU by 2050 will require total annual investment expenditures of about 1 trillion euros during the period 2021â2050.