Climate neutrality as a goal: EU relies on “green bonds”


Status: 06.07.2021 6:38 p.m.

The EU Commission wants to promote “green bonds” with which companies collect money for climate-friendly investments. Clear standards should prevent projects that do not fulfill the climate promise from benefiting.

By Holger Beckmann,
ARD studio Brussels

There are two massive figures with which EU Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis illustrates the dimensions of the transformation of society in Europe towards climate neutrality: By 2030, around 480 billion euros in additional investments are required in the EU to achieve this and that To advance environmental protection. The way there is a global challenge. But he is pleased that Europe is currently making progress, said Dombrovskis.

The Race to zero – the race for climate neutrality: Zero CO2 emissions and the financing of the huge sums required, that’s what the EU Commission is all about. The EU and the member states cannot do this with public money alone, which is why private investors have to be won over.

EU promotes “green bonds”

This should work primarily with so-called “green bonds”, which are funded by the EU. Private companies can also issue them to small investors to finance such future investments. The Commission certainly sees the danger that such bonds promise sustainable and climate-friendly investments, but actually fail to keep this promise.

In order to avoid such “greenwashing”, the EU wants to set clear standards that companies should adhere to when they issue climate-friendly investments. It should be up to them whether they do this or whether they prefer other forms of financing.

Commission wants to define standards

In any case, climate change and the financing of climate neutrality could also be a threat to the stability of the international financial markets – at least if projects were financed with billions that ultimately did not turn out to be climate-friendly, but a bad investment, according to the EU Financial Services Commissioner, Maired McGuiness. That is why it is important to set clear standards, as the Commission intends to do.

In principle, this is met with approval in the European Parliament. However, according to the parliamentary group of the European People’s Party, to which the CDU and CSU also belong: Sustainable investments are not inherently low-risk. If the EU only wanted to publicly promote such private bonds, then that would put the entire financial architecture in a dangerous imbalance. Which could mean: The risk of bank failures could increase as a result.

The Greens in the European Parliament see things differently: They criticize, however, that there is a lack of mandatory standards against “greenwashing” in the Commission’s financing strategy. As before, it cannot be ruled out that investments in nuclear energy or gas-fired power plants are considered climate-friendly in the EU sense, which is regrettable. However, the Commission justifies its plans by arguing that transition technologies are necessary in order to finally bring about a real climate change. And that’s what it’s all about.

EU wants to promote green bonds for climate neutrality

Holger Beckmann, ARD Brussels, 6 July 2021 5:44 p.m.



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