Publications

This study reviews recent public funding directed towards the downstream of the forest-wood sector and assesses how it contributes to climate mitigation and adaptation. Its objective is to inform better targeting of public support in a context of tightening budget constraints. 

As the European Commission prepares an integrated framework on climate resilience and risk management for the EU, the public consultation has just wrapped up – an important step towards the publication of the proposals for the framework later this year. One of the main areas of focus will be the issue of financing adaptation, with the first key challenge being to mainstream the concept of resilience by design into all European funding currently under discussion, including structural policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy and the Connecting Europe Facility.

Adaptation needs in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) are rising rapidly, yet current financing assessments systematically underestimate the scale of the challenge. This paper calls for a shift from headline finance targets towards strategies that fully integrate cost of capital considerations, combining concessional finance, revenue mobilisation, and structural reforms to unlock durable and scalable investment in climate adaptation in EMDEs.

This report, originally published in French in September 2025, is a contribution to the public debate on adaptation in France. The methodologies applied, the data collection process, as well as the analytical framework proposed, may inform broader discussions in Europe, as the preparations for an EU integrated framework for European climate resilience and risk management are well underway. 

An outlook on EU investment needs for the energy transition and the EU’s 2040 climate target. Just before the start of COP30 in Belém, EU Member States agreed to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% in 2040 compared to 1990 levels, including a 5% flexibility through international carbon credits. 

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) came into force on 1 January 2026. It is a carbon tax applied at the borders of the European Union to imports of certain industrial products covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Nitrogen-based mineral fertilisers are included in this initial list of products. To avoid an increase in costs for the farmers concerned, the level of the tax has been reduced for fertilisers, and they may even be temporarily excluded from the scope of the CBAM. Yet, for the climate, but also for France’s strategic independence and food sovereignty, the CBAM will ultimately have to be fully applied to mineral fertilisers. To limit or even avoid an increase in farmers’ fertiliser expenditure, we need public policies – some of which are currently under threat. Ring-fencing budgets for these policies would be a way to support farmers’ incomes and the food sovereignty of both the European Union and France, while reducing the carbon footprint of our food system. 

The year ahead promises to be electric. In a highly unpredictable geopolitical context, the European Union must balance its commitment to the long-term goals of climate neutrality and the immediate attention to security and competitiveness concerns. This puts electrification high on the agenda in Brussels. First, the Grids Package, presented in December 2025, provides for a more centralised approach to planning and is expected to be adopted by the Council in June. Second, before the summer, the Commission intends to present an Electrification Action Plan, which will focus on lowering prices and reinforcing demand. 

Europe is making progress on the clean transition, but the pace is too slow across several parametres. ECNO’s analysis is structured around 13 building blocks of the transition, tracking changes in the six-year trend for nearly 150 indicators and also the expected impact of policies – a new addition to this year’s report. In the 2025 edition, we also analysed the changes through the lens of broader EU objectives, namely competitiveness, resilience, and citizens’ well-being. 

In this year’s edition, we assess these indicators retrospectively—over the past ten years for deep energy retrofits, and over the past five for electric mobility—to identify factors that have improved or worsened economic accessibility to transition solutions in recent years.

In a challenging geo-political context, Europe has a window of opportunity to lead on both climate action and industrial competitiveness. As Mario Draghi highlighted in his report last year, this can only happen if decarbonisation ambitions are backed by real investment - and there is an urgent need to boost those investment. The European Commission followed suit and pledged to be an “Investment Commission,” while reaffirming its commitment to implement the 2030 emission reduction targets and to stay to course on the longer-term targets.

With the second edition of our State of Europe’s Climate Investment report, we take stock of the development in investments supporting the climate transition in the EU27. The report assesses the real-economy annual investments needed to meet the 2030 targets set out in the Green Deal and Net Zero Industry Act for the energy, buildings, transport and clean tech manufacturing sectors. We track the actual investments in those sectors in the EU economy, highlight the deficits and analyse challenges to mobilise investments.

The 3rd French national climate change adaptation plan (PNACC3) seeks to generalize an "adaptation reflex" in all public investments and all public support for investment. Operationalizing this ambition is essential for Stop investing in infrastructure, buildings and equipment that will not be ready to cope with the consequences of climate change; Seize the best opportunities available by taking advantage of investments already planned to strengthen the level of adaptation of the French economy at lower cost. 

As Donald Trump kicks off another presidential mandate in the US, there is no turning away from the EU’s major challenges of competitiveness, energy security and decarbonising the economy. With a new European Commission in place since December 2024, the roll out of initiatives addressing those challenges can begin. Whilst a lot of focus goes […]

2025 begins with a new French government and a new budget debate, but with the same challenge as last year: how to reduce the deficit without putting the brakes on investment in the climate transition? Climate investments are the best investments we can make, according to the new Minister of Economy Éric Lombard. He's right: any delay weakens our energy security and our position in the international race for cleantech, not to mention the pace of decarbonisation of our economy.

To tackle the challenges of competitiveness and well-being of future generations, Europe needs to accelerate the climate transition. This will require sizable investment, both public and private. National governments must thus embrace and the EU must facilitate investments in climate transition. As the next European Commission prepares to take office, the challenges facing the College are stark. The recent report by Mario Draghi makes clear that there is an urgent need to invest in European competitiveness and innovation, while accelerating the decarbonization of the continent's economy, to avoid a “slow agony of decline” for the block.

The ecological transition can only happen if all households have access to solutions – public transport, electric vehicles, home insulation, heating upgrades, etc. The issue of the access to transition solutions is therefore crucial for climate policies. Special attention should be paid to low- and middle-income households, as the necessary investments may not be sustainable for them. 

The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will audition the European Commissioner-designates in early November. The hearings are a crucial moment to seek commitment from the EU’s next executive team on the priorities for the coming five years and how they will delivered – including on the urgent issue of investment in the climate transition.

Every year, the start of the budget debate in France is an opportunity to ask a number of questions: How much is public spending on climate? What is this money spent on? Which actors, both public and private, are on the receiving end? And above all: how should this spending develop in the future? Many numbers have been produced in France over the last few years and it is easy to get lost in the shuffle. This is why we wrote this handbook. We have gathered the information that we consider most important and tried to highlight what we know, what we do not yet know, and the key debates in France that politicians will have to hold and where they will have to quickly find compromises.  

A comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the challenge of financing the low-carbon transition at the local level in France. Local authorities have a major role to play in achieving France's 2050 carbon neutrality goals, as set out in the Stratégie nationale bas-carbone (SNBC). Due to their property and responsibilities, they must make numerous climate investments, implement strategies and action plans, and deploy initiatives to mobilise local actors.  

Climate adaptation, preparedness and solidarity features prominently in the Political Guidelines for the new EU mandate, unveiled by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in July. And with good reason: infrastructures, access to water, food production, life in European cities - to name but a few - are increasingly impacted by the effects of climate change. Europe urgently needs to prepare better for the impact of climate change, was the message in the European Climate Risk Assessment published by the European Environment Agency earlier this year.