Only 3% of the public funds that could be used to support energy-efficiency investments in the Central, Eastern and South-East Europe region are dedicated to upgrading buildings. Though the region is burdened with energy poverty and energy security concerns, the current allocation of EU and international funds shows that buildings are not considered to be critical energy infrastructure, despite the potential of deep renovation to reduce energy dependency, increase savings on energy bills and improve health and air quality.

Within EU funding streams, only 4.35% of the region’s Cohesion Policy Funds is allocated to demand-side infrastructure, amounting to €3.96 Billion. The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) has very little impact in the region, with only two energy projects active.

The analysed international financial institutions allocate only 1.7% of their total committed investments to demand-side infrastructure.

BPIE proposes a host of specific solutions that can be taken both at the EU and country level to increase the impact and reach of available funding for building renovation.