At EDD, EU vows to fight climate change

At least 20 percent of the EU development budget for 2014-2020 will be spent on climate-related projects and policies, European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said on Tuesday.

That means the bloc could spend up to €180 billion in programs to fight climate change over the next seven years, a week after the European Parliament reached a deal on the new Multi-annual Financial Framework.

“Climate change is the single most pressing global issue today,” Barroso noted during his speech at the European Development Days in Brussels.

The budget for the next financial cycle allows the EU to invest up to €960 billion in development-related activities up to 2020.

Visit us at the 2013 European Development Days and watch out for more Devex coverage of news and views from Europe’s leading global development event of the year.

Read more:

• What Europeans think about development aid

• All eyes on Brussels, as world leaders gather for EDD

• Kristalina Georgieva: Let’s ‘amplify the voice of goodness’

• New EU ‘flagships’ to focus on multilateral aid

• Piebalgs: Global anti-poverty framework won’t be ‘diluted’