The ICF and the Department of Land, Housing and Ecological Transition have launched a line of 78 million euros in loans with favourable conditions to promote projects to adapt to climate change and decarbonise the economy in Catalonia.

The so-called ICF Ecoverda Fons Climàtic loans, of between 150,000 and 5 million euros, can be applied for through the website of the public promotion bank.

The Department of Land, Housing and Ecological Transition will contribute 10 million euros to subsidize interest rates and thus improve the conditions of loans. In this way, companies and entities that receive an ICF Ecoverda Fons Climàtic credit will have to pay an interest rate of the Euribor plus a differential between 0% and 1.50%, thanks to the discount of 1.3 percentage points by the Ministry. The term of the loans will be up to 20 years, with up to 2 years of grace period included.

The resources provided by the department come from the Climate Fund of the Generalitat de Catalunya, which is nourished by 50% of the revenues obtained from the tax on CO₂ emissions from mechanical traction vehicles and 20% of the collection of the tax on installations that affect the environment.

The Minister of Economy and Finance, Alícia Romero, stressed that "never before has the ICF announced such a large endowment of financial resources to promote projects in the field of sustainability and the fight against climate change, which can reach up to five million euros per project". "It is a magnificent example of how public banks can accompany the Government's policies to promote the decarbonisation of the economy", he adds.

For the Minister of Land, Housing and Ecological Transition, Sílvia Paneque, "this is an innovative proposal for financing collaboration of the public-private sector in the face of climate challenges, which will surely be replicated soon by other regions, because it increases business competitiveness". We want Catalonia to lead the green transformation, and that is why we are facilitating access to credit under very advantageous conditions for companies and entities committed to decarbonisation and climate adaptation", he added.

The funding designed by the ICF and the ministry is directed, among others, to projects and investments that promote renewable energies, energy efficiency measures, sustainable mobility, energy self-consumption, water saving, biodiversity conservation, and the protection of the population against the increased risk of extreme weather events, the adaptation and reduction of the vulnerability of economic sectors and natural systems, the modification of production processes to reduce polluting emissions or the transformation of the agro-industrial model into a new model that guarantees food sovereignty.

The new ICF Ecoverda Fons Climàtic loans will be aligned with the Catalan Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change by 2030 (ESCACC30), which establishes several operational objectives and measures in the financial field, among others, to reduce the vulnerability of the sector to the impacts of climate change.