The challenge we aim to address in this project is the lack of investment in sustainable energy and energy-efficient assets from public and private financial institutions. The core approach of the project is to define what a sustainable asset and a sustainable investment portfolio is, and to develop an assessment framework in order to allow financial institution to measure their ‘performance’ and set progress targets vis-à-vis energy-climate goals. This approach builds on the research done over the past few years by various organizations. The project will develop an assessment framework allowing investors to measure and manage their ‘climate performance’ (i.e. their exposure to sustainable energy and energy efficiency investments). This framework will include a translation of climate-energy investment roadmaps into targets for the finance sector, an assessment methodology for assets (e.g. equity shares in companies), and an assessment methodology for investment portfolios. The project will embed the framework into the standard toolbox used by investors to inform their asset allocation strategy, which will include an upgrade of databases used by investors; the integration of Sustainable Energy Investment performance metrics into portfolio optimisation tools, in order to allow investors to optimize climate and financial performance at the same time; and SEI benchmark indices in order to allow asset owners to integrate climate goals in the mandates of asset managers. The project will lead to several publications and a series of workshops with practitioners on Sustainable Energy Investment Metrics including a study on the risk-adjusted returns of SEI strategies; a study dealing with the implications of SEI metrics for financial policy-makers; and various workshops across Europe involving experts and financial institutions, to discuss methodological options, train practitioners on the assessment frameworks, and get feedbacks from road tests.

EuroPACE will develop a scalable on-tax financing mechanism to unlock the huge potential for deployment of energy saving and generation technologies to European households. The scheme is inspired by the successful US PACE scheme, that was invented in California in 2008. The project will address several fundamental challenges to Energy Efficiency investment by (1) A Market-Based Approach: EuroPACE will deploy private capital as up-front financing to homeowners, i.e. reduce reliance on grants and subsidies, (2) De-Risking EE Investment: the long-term repayments obligation is tied to a property and not its owner. In turn, municipalities will be the conduit for the repayment via a special levy collected with the property tax bill, (3) Technical Assistance: decision-making processes for homeowners will be optimised by training energy service contractors. They will be held to account by a comprehensive consumer protection code, (4) Aggregation and Standardization: EuroPACE will design standard underwriting requirements and project performance guidelines to enable project aggregation and Green Bonds issuance. By 2025, the EuroPACE industry will generate measurable impact in the three key areas: (1) Economy: over 45.000 jobs and €5bn of capital in local economies across the EU27, (2) Society: over 300.000 homes retrofitted and improved, and (3) Environment: energy saving of 3.5MWh/year, equating to CO2 savings totalling 1.8m tons. EuroPACE will account for just 4.6% of the European renovation industry by 2015 giving way to huge growth potential. This will be achieved by a well-resourced and highly skilled consortium that will focus its efforts on three pillars of activity: (1) Conduct a market review to assess on-tax financing suitability in EU27, (2) Develop and execute a first EuroPACE pilot in the city of Olot (Spain) and (3) Develop generalised Guidelines and a Toolkit that will make EuroPACE fully scalable. Over 75 signed Letters of Support confirm a broad support platform for the project.

SecureChain promotes a Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) that meets highest environmental quality standards and targets local biomass suppliers, energy producers and financial sector players to mobilise more biomass, maximise the share of sustainable bioenergy in the final energy consumption, and reduce the transaction costs for further market uptake of most efficient systems in six European model regions. An open call for SSCM pilot projects is launched encouraging market actors to mobilise and secure additional supplies of biomass from regional sources. Following a merit-based, objective competition, selected SMEs are awarded 15-20 Innovation Vouchers for the realisation of proposed SSCM pilot projects with the support of specialised advisors. Learning Labs for SME clusters support the implementation of most sustainable and energy efficient solutions in each model region. Tested quality assurance tools are readily installed in the pilots and SMEs receive proper training. A complete LCA of pilot supply chains evaluates their broader environmental and socio-economic impacts, ensuring that QA protocols meet eligible international sustainability standards for high efficiency and low carbon footprint. Suppliers are prepared for and ultimately acquire sustainability certification via independent audits. To facilitate critical financial proofs for market actors and financiers, a risk assessment of supply chains in line with a close mentoring of pilot teams by financial advisors is carried out. Roadshows promoting the pilots showcase that future-proof investment proposals can attract local to international capital for secured implementation and upscaling of efficient solutions. SecureChain exploits and disseminates a broadly transferable SSCM model for local bioenergy chains that fosters sustainable, environmentally compatible mobilisation of biomass sources and a proactive promotion of the market through conscious investments into the bioenergy sector.