Europe’s industry seeks green funding

Abstract

Europe’s leading chemical industry association, Cefic, is calling on the European Commission to allocate a share of the proposed $875 billion green recovery fund to the chemical industry to help it come back from the COVID-19 pandemic and transform itself into a more environmentally sustainable business. Over the next few years, the commission plans to make about $455 billion in recovery funds available in the form of grants and $420 billion in the form of loans. A cash injection would help the region’s chemical sector offset its economic slide due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Europe’s chemical output dropped 5.2% in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2019, according to a new economic report from Cefic, and the region’s overall manufacturing output dropped 12.9%. The chemical industry also faces rising costs from Europe’s environmental policies, including those resulting from the commission’s proposal to deepen the