The 'EU4Energy governance' project is running a campaign to raise awareness of the project's work, and the benefits of energy reforms in the six Eastern partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine).
As part of this campaign, the project uses the hashtag #EnergyReforms4Citizens on social media to share simple tips on energy efficiency. This week's focus is on the green recovery from COVID-19. Check out some important milestones on this topic below:
- Green recovery aims to help countries to recover from the pandemic, using the 'building back better' approach. This means cutting CO2 emissions, as well as boosting the economy via investments in new clean energy technology and improving energy efficiency through the renovation of existing buildings.
- The EU has also announced NextGenerationEU - a recovery tool, worth €750 billion, to support those hit hardest by this crisis. The tool will invest in a recovery that builds a greener, more digital and resilient EU. Around €10 billion from NextGenerationEU is expected to be earmarked for neighbourhood, development and international cooperation, which will also allow funding for the Eastern partner countries;
- Ukraine received a €500 million loan from the EU in May 2020 (as part of a special macro-financial assistance, totalling €1.2 billion) to tackle the most serious consequences of the pandemic.
- The EU has also agreed on macro-financial assistance programmes of €150 million for Georgia and €100 million for Moldova for tackling COVID-19-related problems.
- The Energy Community continues to work with national authorities and international financial institutions to address difficulties in the energy sector, such as growing energy poverty and the decreasing revenues of utility companies due to late or non-payment of bills as a result of the pandemic.