EU to invest 1T euros to battle climate change

The European Union announced Tuesday that it will invest 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) into combating climate change, The Associated Press reports. 

The EU will invest a fourth of its budget to battle climate change, with other funds coming from the private sector. The plan will fund European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s European Green Deal, which strives to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent in the world by 2050. 

The European Green Deal was first announced in December, shortly after Von der Leyen, a former Cabinet member of German Prime Minister Angela Merkel’s administration, assumed her current role as European Commission president.

Much of the funds allocated will go into subsidies for member countries who are dependent on fossil fuels. In order to qualify for the financial support, member states will need to present plans to restructure their economies to lower emissions.

EU leaders agreed to the goals of the European Green Deal in December but are awaiting a full plan. European lawmakers are expected to hold a nonbinding vote on the environmental plan on Wednesday.