Sustainable Finance for Industry Decarbonisation

Visegrád Group (V4) constituents Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia are currently lagging behind in industrial decarbonisation. The four countries have to focus their efforts on heavy-emitting industries if they are to meet national as well as EU climate targets. However, the necessary expertise, financing mechanisms and policy incentives are still lacking among representatives of politics, business, and finance.

Industrial Site Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg, Germany; Photo Industrial Site Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg, Germany © pixabay

The project team provided representatives of heavy-emitting industries, of financial institutions and policy makers with the necessary knowledge to promote and advance decarbonisation efforts in the target countries. To this end, the team carried out several activities, closely engaging with the target group at all stages. First, it conducted a baseline study on the state of industrial decarbonisation in the V4 countries. On this basis, it developed a policy and financing roadmap that guides investors and policy makers through the steps they need to take in order to initiate the decarbonisation process. Additionally, workshops and information events targeted representatives from the industries, providing knowledge and skills in the fields of climate change, decarbonisation, climate policies and sustainable finance. Furthermore, a conference and an online portal enabled the target group to easily access information on industrial transformation as well as on financing opportunities and instruments. While providing decision makers with the necessary knowledge, the activities also fostered communication, collaboration and networking among the participants. This enabled the sharing of ideas, of best practice examples, and the formation of a critical mass to hold politicians accountable for their decarbonation efforts. An “industrial taskforce” in each country gathered members from different sectors and geographical areas, who committed themselves to net-zero goals, provide thought leadership for the further project, and promoted the decarbonisation agendas. In the medium to long term, these activities thus contributed to the development of decarbonisation-oriented policies and regulatory frameworks in the V4 region.

Four country-specific reports (Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Poland) were produced, mapping out the financial, regulatory and policy barriers to industry decarbonisation efforts, as well as the positions of the industry leaders towards more ambitious decarbonisation efforts, and the EU's sustainable finance agenda.

Following the Barrier Report(s), the project developed individual roadmap studies tailored to the specific needs of all four target countries: Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The public presentation of the roadmap studies was a significant success that substantially contributed to the visibility of the project and its results. The studies were widely distributed and among them featured prominently at the CEE Sustainable Finance Summit in Prague. This dissemination strategy not only enhanced the credibility of the research but also positioned the project as a noteworthy contributor to sustainable finance discussions in the region.

245 decision makers in the industrial and financial sectors, and policy makers were involved in capacity building through workshops, roundtable discussions and other activities, exceeding by far the original target of 150. In a sector particularly challenging to decarbonise like the industrial, this effort laid the foundations of country-level and cross-border networks, demonstrating to business partners that a thriving civil society exists and has the tools to effectively support the path towards net zero.