"Intervention from the audience on energy, climate change and environment".

As the programming phase for the 2014-2020 cohesion policy is now behind us, we see that
Member States and regions have emphasized sustainable growth in their programmes and have
allocated a significantly larger share of the budget than in the previous period to priorities
related to energy, climate change and environment. These areas are prioritized in the EU
Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSAR) as well. Since these themes absolutely require
coordinated transnational action, the EUSAR is a key instrument (via its Action groups) to
operationalise coordinated approaches and investment (and to network good practice)

Cohesion Policy goes beyond funding and offers a strategic and integrated place-based approach.
The Commission supports Member States, regions and cities in the uptake of the funds by
providing technical assistance or capacity-building (e.g. through networks on energy and on
environment). But this needs networking to share good practice, and to discuss/facilitate
common responses to common problems. The Macro-Regional Strategies can play an important
role, by further promoting sustainable growth, including through exchange of knowledge and
experiences.

We are now in full implementation mode and we need good projects to deliver our policy and
reach the results on the ground in all European regions. This is where the EU Strategy for the
Alpine Region and its Action Groups can have a strong role, especially in connecting ideas and
avoiding a fragmented approach. I see an enormous potential in platforms and clusters in
sustainable growth, which could pool knowledge and monitoring capacities (on energy, climate,
risks and environment), coordinate research activities and jointly develop solutions and policy
responses.

More specifically, and to note as overall background:
o 40 billion EUR goes to supporting the low-carbon economy. This is more than double the
amount for the 2007-2013 period. It includes investments in energy efficiency and
renewable energy, which can help to make the Alpine region a model region for the lowcarbon economy (Action 9 of EUSAR).
o 35 billion EUR goes to environmental protection and resource efficiency, including
investments in water and waste management, increased support for biodiversity and
other areas. These investments can contribute to protecting natural resources in the Alps
(Action 6 of EUSAR) and to developing green infrastructure to increase the ecological
connectivity of the region (Action 7 of EUSAR).
o 8 billion EUR goes to climate change adaptation and risk prevention. This is the largest
EU funding source to protect Europe against natural disasters and strengthen the
resilience against the impact of climate change. The investments can also support
regions to develop a comprehensive disaster risk management policy, which is a priority
for the Alpine region where the consequence of climate change – such as melting glaciers
– are very visible (Action 8 of EUSAR).