| Europe must spend hundreds of billions of euros in the coming years to reach its climate targets, but with public spending limited by strict budget rules, it will be mostly consumers footing the bill. If this European Commission will be remembered for anything, it will likely be for its climate policy. With the targets adopted under Ursula von der Leyen, the EU wants to be climate-neutral by 2050 and reduce emissions by 55% by 2030. To achieve those targets, hundreds of billions of euros must be spent on greening the economy. While politicians love to talk about stuff like hydrogen, green steel, and battery factories, the biggest chunk of investments is needed to renovate buildings and reduce the emissions caused by heating systems. The European Commission estimates an additional investment of €165 billion into building renovations each year – on top of what has happened so far. Who will pay for this? Realistically, there are two options: Either it’s national governments massively subsidising building renovations, or it’s those using heating systems – consumers like you and me. You might also think that even if governments subsidise renovations, in the end, it will also be you and me paying for this via our taxes. But governments can borrow money and do so more efficiently than each consumer individually. By financing climate investments through public debt, it wouldn’t be today’s taxpayers paying for it, but tomorrow’s – when GDP and wages are higher due to economic growth in the meantime. Also, taxes are paid progressively, meaning high-earners and the wealthy are – at least theoretically – expected to contribute more. This distributes costs more fairly throughout society than letting each consumer, including the poorest, pay for the renovation of their own home. In short, it would have certain advantages to let (future) taxpayers pay for today’s green investments, not only consumers. | 
