Only four out of ten European companies have invested in 2021

Orange with Media Services, Published on Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 07:00

European companies spent just 10% of their total investments last year to reduce their energy consumption, according to a study published this week by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Reducing energy consumption has become a major issue for households and businesses since the Russian military began its offensive in Ukraine in late February. The war not only threatened Europe’s energy supply but also caused electricity and gas prices to rise.

The French government has set a target of reducing the country’s energy consumption by 10% by 2024. Companies still need to start, too In Europe they lag behind, with only four out of 10 companies investing in 2021.

European companies spent only 10% of their total investment last year to reduce their energy consumptionA study released this week by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in its 2022 edition of the Investment Survey reveals*

However, this study highlights large disparities between countries. In Finland (54%) or Austria (51%), for example, more than one in two companies invested in using less energy by 2021, while less than one in four in Lithuania (20%) or France (24%). have done

European companies are ahead of American companies

EIB’s Chief Economist Deborah Revoldella notes that European companies are investing “overwhelmingly” in the field of “climate action”. Compared to 2020, the percentage of European companies that allocate part of their financial resources to energy efficiency has increased by three points (from 37% to 40%). The “shock” created by the war in Ukraine “should be an additional incentive” to invest in reducing energy consumption.

European companies are in no way ahead of their American competitors, as only 36% of the latter have spent on increasing their energy efficiency in 2021 (4 points less than Europe).

Generally speaking, the impact of the Ukraine war on private investment in Europe appears to be minimal for now. More than 6% of companies say they are financially constrained in 2022, a slight increase in the rate compared to recent years, but still lower than the 6.78% of firms under constraint in 2017.

* The survey was carried out between April and July 2022 on a representative sample of 13,000 companies from the 27 member states of the European Union. A sample of US firms was also interviewed for comparative purposes.