On 3 June 2026, European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra delivered a keynote address at the Luxembourg International Climate Finance Days, calling for accelerated climate investment and warning that continued fossil fuel dependence poses security and economic risks. Hoekstra highlighted that 2024 was the hottest year on record and that 2025 is set to be the second hottest, with 2026 already above average. He stressed that delayed investment in climate action transfers the bill to the most vulnerable and that the window for action is closing faster than financing pipelines are opening.
Hoekstra pointed to the Iran war as a stark reminder that phasing out fossil fuels is a climate imperative, a security necessity, and an economic no-brainer. He noted that in 2025, the EU's fossil fuel import bill was nearly EUR 400 billion, and since the escalation in the Middle East, an additional EUR 24 billion was spent on energy imports due to higher prices without receiving extra energy. However, he also cited a new IEA report showing that the EU saved EUR 51.4 billion in 2025 thanks to prior clean energy investment.
The Commissioner outlined two main points. First, on leadership: countries in a position to do so must lead, not as charity but as a reflection of institutional capacity and access to capital markets. Meeting the New Collective Climate Finance Goal agreed at COP29 requires using public money to move private money at an unprecedented ratio. The EU contributed EUR 31.7 billion in 2024, mobilising an additional EUR 11 billion in private finance. Hoekstra called on more countries with the ability to contribute, and on all actors – Multilateral Development Banks, sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, and national development banks – to be part of the solution. He praised the European Investment Bank's green financing outside the EU, which grew from EUR 2.8 billion in 2021 to EUR 4.7 billion in 2024, now representing nearly two-thirds of its total external financing.
Second, Hoekstra emphasised that the EU's approach is already delivering. By 2024, the Global Gateway strategy had mobilised over EUR 300 billion, with half of flagship projects targeting climate and energy. He highlighted blended finance instruments such as the EU's Global Green Bond Initiative, the Currency Exchange Fund addressing currency mismatch, and the DFCD AYA Scalable Solutions facility, which has stacked up to EUR 105 million in guarantees to crowd in private capital across agriculture, forestry, water, and renewable energy in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Hoekstra concluded that the frameworks, instruments, and political commitments exist, though imperfect and contested. He urged institutions to move from high-level aspiration to ground-level infrastructure, with the EU ready to partner in structuring deals, sharing risk, and defending the multilateral climate finance architecture.
The speech contained concrete proposals, including numerical targets (EUR 31.7 billion EU contribution in 2024, EUR 11 billion mobilised private finance) and references to specific instruments and funds. The policy orientation is towards increased climate finance mobilisation, with a strong emphasis on leveraging private capital and broadening the contributor base. In terms of foreign policy, the speech takes an assertive stance on fossil fuel phase-out as a security and economic necessity, while maintaining a conciliatory approach by offering EU partnership and highlighting successful cooperation.