Last week, EBC was in Venice, Italy, to attend the 3rd International Sustainable Housing Finance Symposium organised by the Energy Efficient Mortgages Initiative (EEMI). The EEMI initiative seeks to introduce a greener, more sustainability-focused means of buying, renovating and living in our homes, and has developed a new, integrated, multi-stakeholder energy efficient mortgage ecosystem pilot to that purpose. EEMI is coordinated by the European Mortgage Federation (EMF-ECBC). In this capacity, EMF-ECBC Secretary General Luca Bertalot formally kicked-off the event with an update on development of the EEM Ecosystem.
During the conference, different actors and stakeholders gave a series of relevant presentations. Indicatively, Eduardo Soares Antunes of the European Commission’s DG ENER addressed participants on the European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition and the upcoming challenges stemming from the finance and mortgage-related provisions of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The OECD gave an overview of trends and examples from its network on how policies can make housing more environmentally sustainable and affordable. Then, Jacobo Llerena Iglesias from the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition & the Demographic Challenge explained how Spain is trying to make housing and renovation more affordable and greener, while the Banca d’Italia offered an Italian perspective on the Italian green mortgage market and the University of Pennsylvania delved into the challenge of measuring progress in improving green, social and sustainable housing.
A panel discussion followed on the challenge of delivering the Energy Efficient Mortgage Market Ecosystem, piloted by major banking actors from across Europe. The next step would be the replication and sustainability of this work, with aim of building an EEMI ‘accelerator.’ In this sense, the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Climate Bonds Initiative and EMF-ECBC took place at the conclusion of the meeting, marking the actors’ intention to further broaden and mainstream their cooperation through common labelling of green mortgages.
The creation of a new EU Energy and Housing Commissioner role did not go unnoticed, with expectations that this new function will help streamline the necessary resources towards the much-needed energy renovation of existing homes. The role of contractors, notably SMEs that are in charge of delivering energy renovation works, was evoked. The effort to channel investment to SMEs through so-called European Secured Notes with a view to supporting their role in the climate transition was also brought forward. As was the novel landscape defined by EU regulation, such as the recast EPBD, the EU Taxonomy framework, or the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
EBC will continue to be part of the sustainable housing and finance debate and bring forward the point of view of construction SMEs and craft, which lie at the heart of the energy renovation equation.
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