IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecb/ecbops/2025367.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Investing in Europe’s green future: green investment needs, outlook and obstacles to funding the gap

Author

Listed:
  • Nerlich, Carolin
  • Köhler-Ulbrich, Petra
  • Andersson, Malin
  • Pasqua, Carlo
  • Abraham, Laurent
  • Bańkowski, Krzysztof
  • Emambakhsh, Tina
  • Ferrando, Annalisa
  • Grynberg, Charlotte
  • Groß, Johannes
  • Hoendervangers, Lucia
  • Kostakis, Vasileios
  • Momferatou, Daphne
  • Rau-Goehring, Matthias
  • Rusinova, Desislava
  • Setzer, Ralph
  • Spaggiari, Martina
  • Tamburrini, Fabio
  • Simon, Josep Maria Vendrell
  • Vinci, Francesca
  • Rariga, Erzsebet-Judit

Abstract

The green transition of the EU economy will require substantial investment to 2030 and beyond. Estimates of green investment needs vary between institutions and are surrounded by high uncertainty, but they all point to a requirement for faster and more ambitious action. Green investment will need to be financed primarily by the private sector. While banks are expected to make a key contribution to funding the green transition, capital markets need to deepen further, especially to support innovation financing. Progress on the capital markets union would support the green transition. Public funds will be vital to complement and de-risk private green investment. Structural reforms and enhanced business conditions should be tailored to encourage firms, households and investors to step up their green investment activities. JEL Classification: E22, E44, G21, Q41, Q50, Q58

Suggested Citation

  • Nerlich, Carolin & Köhler-Ulbrich, Petra & Andersson, Malin & Pasqua, Carlo & Abraham, Laurent & Bańkowski, Krzysztof & Emambakhsh, Tina & Ferrando, Annalisa & Grynberg, Charlotte & Groß, Johannes & H, 2025. "Investing in Europe’s green future: green investment needs, outlook and obstacles to funding the gap," Occasional Paper Series 367, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbops:2025367
    Note: 508107
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ecb.europa.eu//pub/pdf/scpops/ecb.op367~16f0cba571.en.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrea Bacchiocchi & Alessandro Bellocchi & Germana Giombini, 2024. "Green Investment Challenges in European Firms: Internal vs. External Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Pierre Azoulay & Joshua S Graff Zivin & Danielle Li & Bhaven N Sampat, 2019. "Public R&D Investments and Private-sector Patenting: Evidence from NIH Funding Rules," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(1), pages 117-152.
    3. Vinci, Francesca & Schang, Christopher, 2024. "Marrying fiscal rules & investment: a central fiscal capacity for Europe," Working Paper Series 2962, European Central Bank.
    4. Grazia Cecere & Nicoletta Corrocher & Maria Luisa Mancusi, 2020. "Financial constraints and public funding of eco-innovation: empirical evidence from European SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 285-302, January.
    5. Laura Capota & Margherita Giuzio & Sujit Kapadia & Dilyara Salakhova, 2022. "Are ethical and green investment funds more resilient?," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Statistics for Sustainable Finance, volume 56, Bank for International Settlements.
    6. Ralph De Haas & Alexander Popov, 2025. "Correction to: ‘Finance and Green Growth’," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 135(667), pages 1030-1030.
    7. Cera, Katharina & Daly, Pierce & Hermans, Lieven & Molitor, Philippe & Blicke, Oscar Schwartz & Sowiński, Andrzej & Telesca, Elisa, 2024. "Private markets, public risk? Financial stability implications of alternative funding sources," Financial Stability Review, European Central Bank, vol. 1.
    8. repec:imf:imfdep:2022/014 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Benatti, Nicola & Groiss, Martin & Kelly, Petra & Lopez-Garcia, Paloma, 2024. "The impact of environmental regulation on clean innovation: are there crowding out effects?," Working Paper Series 2946, European Central Bank.
    10. Emambakhsh, Tina & Fuchs, Maximilian & Kördel, Simon & Kouratzoglou, Charalampos & Lelli, Chiara & Pizzeghello, Riccardo & Salleo, Carmelo & Spaggiari, Martina, 2023. "The Road to Paris: stress testing the transition towards a net-zero economy," Occasional Paper Series 328, European Central Bank.
    11. Masuch, Klaus & Anderton, Robert & Setzer, Ralph & Benalal, Nicholai, 2018. "Structural policies in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 210, European Central Bank.
    12. Haroutunian, Stephan & Bańkowski, Krzysztof & Bischl, Simeon & Bouabdallah, Othman & Hauptmeier, Sebastian & Leiner-Killinger, Nadine & O'Connell, Marguerite & Oleaga, Iñigo Arruga & Abraham, Laurent , 2024. "The path to the reformed EU fiscal framework: a monetary policy perspective," Occasional Paper Series 349, European Central Bank.
    13. Pfeiffer, Philipp & Varga, Janos & in ’t Veld, Jan, 2023. "Quantifying spillovers of coordinated investment stimulus in the EU," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(7), pages 1843-1865, October.
    14. Orsetta Causa & Nhung Luu & Michael Abendschein, 2021. "Labour market transitions across OECD countries: Stylised facts," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1692, OECD Publishing.
    15. Marco Del Negro & Julian di Giovanni & Keshav Dogra, 2023. "Is the Green Transition Inflationary?," Staff Reports 1053, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    16. Batini, Nicoletta & Di Serio, Mario & Fragetta, Matteo & Melina, Giovanni & Waldron, Anthony, 2022. "Building back better: How big are green spending multipliers?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    17. Pietsch, Allegra & Salakhova, Dilyara, 2022. "Pricing of green bonds: drivers and dynamics of the greenium," Working Paper Series 2728, European Central Bank.
    18. Filippo Maria D’Arcangelo & Tobias Kruse & Mauro Pisu & Marco Tomasi, 2023. "Corporate cost of debt in the low-carbon transition: The effect of climate policies on firm financing and investment through the banking channel," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1761, OECD Publishing.
    19. Itay Goldstein & Alexandr Kopytov & Lin Shen & Haotian Xiang, 2022. "On ESG Investing: Heterogeneous Preferences, Information, and Asset Prices," NBER Working Papers 29839, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Andrea Bellucci & Serena Fatica & Aliki Georgakaki & Gianluca Gucciardi & Simon Letout & Francesco Pasimeni, 2023. "Venture Capital Financing and Green Patenting," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 947-983, August.
    21. Luca Bettarelli & Davide Furceri & Pietro Pizzuto & Nadia Shakoor, 2023. "Environmental Policies and Innovation in Renewable Energy," IMF Working Papers 2023/180, International Monetary Fund.
    22. repec:imf:imfdps:2022/014 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Zsolt Darvas & Guntram B. Wolff, 2021. "A green fiscal pact- climate investment in times of budget consolidation," Bruegel Policy Contributions 44540, Bruegel.
    24. Bańkowski, Krzysztof & Benalal, Nicholai & Bouabdallah, Othman & De Stefani, Roberta & Dorrucci, Ettore & Jacquinot, Pascal & Modery, Wolfgang & Nerlich, Carolin & Rodríguez-Vives, Marta & Szörfi, Bél, 2024. "Four years into NextGenerationEU: what impact on the euro area economy," Occasional Paper Series 362, European Central Bank.
    25. Daniel Nachtigall & Luisa Lutz & Miguel Cárdenas Rodríguez & Ivan Haščič & Rodrigo Pizarro, 2022. "The climate actions and policies measurement framework: A structured and harmonised climate policy database to monitor countries' mitigation action," OECD Environment Working Papers 203, OECD Publishing.
    26. Sabrina T. Howell, 2017. "Financing Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1136-1164, April.
    27. Bańkowski, Krzysztof & Bouabdallah, Othman & Domingues Semeano, João & Dorrucci, Ettore & Freier, Maximilian & Jacquinot, Pascal & Modery, Wolfgang & Rodríguez-Vives, Marta & Valenta, Vilém & Zorell, , 2022. "The economic impact of Next Generation EU: a euro area perspective," Occasional Paper Series 291, European Central Bank.
    28. Diego R. Känzig, 2023. "The Unequal Economic Consequences of Carbon Pricing," NBER Working Papers 31221, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    29. Accetturo, Antonio & Barboni, Giorgia & Cascarano, Michele & Garcia-Appendini, Emilia & Tomasi, Marco, 2022. "Credit supply and green Investments," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 615, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    30. O'Connell, Marguerite & Abraham, Laurent & Oleaga, Iñigo Arruga, 2023. "The legal and institutional feasibility of an EU Climate and Energy Security Fund," Occasional Paper Series 313, European Central Bank.
    31. Ferdinandusse, Marien & Nerlich, Carolin & Téllez, Mar Delgado, 2022. "Fiscal policies to mitigate climate change in the euro area," Economic Bulletin Articles, European Central Bank, vol. 6.
    32. Reghezza, Alessio & Altunbas, Yener & Marques-Ibanez, David & Rodriguez d’Acri, Costanza & Spaggiari, Martina, 2022. "Do banks fuel climate change?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    33. Ms. Zeina Hasna & Ms. Florence Jaumotte & Jaden Kim & Samuel Pienknagura & Gregor Schwerhoff, 2023. "Green Innovation and Diffusion: Policies to Accelerate Them and Expected Impact on Macroeconomic and Firm-Level Performance," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 2023/008, International Monetary Fund.
    34. Ralph De Haas & Alexander Popov, 2023. "Finance and Green Growth," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(650), pages 637-668.
    35. Bakker Age & Beetsma Roel & Buti Marco, 2024. "Investing in European Public Goods While Maintaining Fiscal Discipline at Home," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Sciendo, vol. 59(2), pages 98-103, March.
    36. Maria Coelho, 2019. "Fiscal Stimulus in a Monetary Union: Evidence from Eurozone Regions," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 67(3), pages 573-617, September.
    37. Sebastian Steuer & Tobias H Tröger, 2022. "The Role of Disclosure in Green Finance," Journal of Financial Regulation, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(1), pages 1-50.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tommaso Oliviero & Sandro Rondinella & Alberto Zazzaro, 2024. "Are green firms more financially constrained? The sensitivity of investment to cash flow," CSEF Working Papers 700, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    2. Campiglio, Emanuele & Spiganti, Alessandro & Wiskich, Anthony, 2024. "Clean innovation, heterogeneous financing costs, and the optimal climate policy mix," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    3. Emanuele Campiglio & Alessandro Spiganti & Anthony Wiskich, 2023. "Clean innovation and heterogeneous financing costs," Working Papers 2023: 07, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    4. Fisera,Boris & Martin Melecky & Dorothe Singer, 2024. "Financial Deepening and Carbon Emissions Intensity : Evidence from a Global Sample of Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10948, The World Bank.
    5. Laeven, Luc & Popov, Alexander, 2023. "Carbon taxes and the geography of fossil lending," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    6. Buchetti, Bruno & Miquel-Flores, Ixart & Perdichizzi, Salvatore & Reghezza, Alessio & Lin, Luca X., 2024. "Loan guarantee and portfolio greening: evidence from European credit registers," Working Paper Series 2916, European Central Bank.
    7. Kakuho Furukawa & Hibiki Ichiue & Noriyuki Shiraki, 2020. "How Does Climate Change Interact with the Financial System? A Survey," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 20-E-8, Bank of Japan.
    8. Pietrovito, Filomena & Rancan, Michela, 2024. "Credit rationing and sustainable activities: A firm-level investigation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    9. Nickel, Christiane & Kilponen, Juha & Moral-Benito, Enrique & Koester, Gerrit & Ciccarelli, Matteo & Enders, Almira & Holton, Sarah & Landau, Bettina & Venditti, Fabrizio & Bobeica, Elena & Brand, Cla, 2025. "A strategic view on the economic and inflation environment in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 371, European Central Bank.
    10. Ralph De Haas & Ralf Martin & Mirabelle Muuls & Helena Schweiger, 2022. "Managerial and financial barriers during the green transition," CEP Discussion Papers dp1837, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    11. Prachi Srivastava & Nicholas Bloom & Philip Bunn & Paul Mizen & Gregory Thwaites & Ivan Yotzov, 2024. "Firm Climate Investment: A Glass Half-Full," NBER Working Papers 33081, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Agostino, Mariarosaria & Rondinella, Sandro, 2025. "Do climate extreme events stimulate or hinder green innovation? Evidence from the Italian manufacturing sector," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 101-111.
    13. Ralph De Haas & Ralf Martin & Mirabelle Muûls & Helena Schweiger, 2025. "Managerial and Financial Barriers to the Green Transition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(4), pages 2890-2921, April.
    14. Ralph De Haas & Ralf Martin & Mirabelle Muûls & Helena Schweiger, 2025. "Managerial and Financial Barriers to the Green Transition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(4), pages 2890-2921, April.
    15. Karydas, Christos & Xepapadeas, Anastasios, 2022. "Climate change financial risks: Implications for asset pricing and interest rates," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    16. Da Gao & Xinlin Mo & Kun Duan & Yi Li, 2022. "Can Green Credit Policy Promote Firms’ Green Innovation? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, March.
    17. O'Connell, Marguerite & Abraham, Laurent & Oleaga, Iñigo Arruga, 2023. "The legal and institutional feasibility of an EU Climate and Energy Security Fund," Occasional Paper Series 313, European Central Bank.
    18. Bettarelli, Luca & Furceri, Davide & Pisano, Loredana & Pizzuto, Pietro, 2025. "Greenflation: Empirical evidence using macro, regional and sectoral data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    19. Fourné, Marius & Li, Xiang, 2025. "Climate policy and international capital reallocation," IWH Discussion Papers 20/2024, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), revised 2025.
    20. Raphael Calel & Jonathan Colmer & Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Matthieu Glachant, 2025. "Do Carbon Offsets Offset Carbon?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 1-40, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbops:2025367. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Official Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emieude.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.