I step into the role of Director for Cleantech for Europe at a critical juncture for the EU. Over the last decade, EU cleantech companies have developed the technologies needed to decarbonize a range of cutting-edge technologies, including batteries, electrolysers, supercapacitors, as well as low carbon steel and cement. In addition, the EU possesses the ingredients necessary to achieve competitive decarbonization and achieve its 2030 targets. These include a highly skilled workforce, strong research and innovation, an industrial base specialised in high-quality manufacturing and the world’s largest single market, albeit one that is crucially incomplete in the key areas of capital, energy and digital tech, as Enrico Letta emphasized in his seminal report on the Single Market.

Despite these advantages, however, it’s clear the EU faces many challenges in meeting our ambitions to transform our leadership in industrial decarbonization, promoting electrification, energy autonomy and cleantech innovation into lasting competitiveness. In 2024, the Draghi and Letta Reports made clear that bold and decisive action is required to secure our economic competitiveness and future prosperity. As European policymakers and institutions are increasingly aware, a number of indicators suggest the EU lags behind the US and China in building the industries of the future while helping us achieve our climate ambitions and creating millions of well-paid jobs.

High interest rates and other macro-economic factors led to a slowdown in equity investments in the EU in 2024, with declines in the number, volume and size of cleantech deals. Cleantech VC investment fell by 24% year-on-year, dropping from €11.6 billion in 2023 to €8.8 billion in 2024, reflecting a significant contraction in European funding for the first time in a decade. Meanwhile, despite a record-setting level of debt investment in Q1, later-stage investments including debt funding sharply declined in the latter half of the year, reflecting the limited access to capital for cleantech innovators to scale up their operations in Europe. The reduced deal flow and lower volumes of investment highlight ongoing challenges in mobilizing much-needed debt funding at scale.

And although the EU’s share of global cleantech venture and growth investment remained relatively stable, it continues to trail significantly behind the US, whose cleantech sector continues to reap the benefits of its sophisticated cleantech capital stack and comprehensive industrial, trade, and competition policy framework. Donald Trump’s election may be an inflection point. Since returning to the White House, he has rolled back significant elements of former President Joe Biden’s signature climate law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which had contributed to a massive uptick in cleantech investments. While Trump has not yet eliminated the tax credits for clean energy project developers, many EU cleantech companies which had previously considered opening their next facility in the US to take advantage of incentives provided by the IRA may be rethinking the move. Ultimately it is too soon to tell what impact the new Trump administration will have on US cleantech investments, what is clear is that the EU must stay the course in building up our own thriving cleantech ecosystem and increasing the flow of private capital into the sector.

Fortunately, the urgency for decisive and bold actions to increase investments into strategic clean technologies has emerged as a consensus topic across the political spectrum. During EU elections in 2024 all major parties’ manifestos contained commitments supporting the growth of clean technologies, and the new Commission led by President Ursula Von der Leyen has promised to deliver their vision for a Clean Industrial Deal at the end of February. The Commission is looking into thematic areas such as energy security and energy prices; financing; recycling and critical raw materials; labor and skills; lead markets; and global action.

As we argued in a recent open letter to President Von der Leyen and key Commissioners which signed by over 100 EU cleantech innovators and investors, the success of the Clean Industrial Deal depends on delivering two clear market signals. First, it must drive a strong increase in demand for cleantech. Second, it should prioritize public de-risking to encourage investment from Europe’s €38 trillion pool of private capital. The full arsenal of policy tools must be geared towards this shared common objective: creating a compelling business case for a new generation of clean industries to thrive in Europe.

Bold policy to support the scale-up of European cleantech is more critical than ever before, and I am eager to contribute to this mission. It’s time to create an unprecedented cleantech demand surge and to prioritise the de-risking of strategic European technologies. Strong signals on both fronts will unlock some of Europe’s trillions in private wealth to boost scale-ups, ensuring Europe builds value chains of the future and prosperity for its citizens.

Over the coming months, I look forward to working with Cleantech for Europe’s coalitions of leading investors and scaleups as well as European policymakers from across the political spectrum as well as EU institutions to deliver on this vision.

About Victor Van Hoorn
In January 2025, Victor Van Hoorn joined Cleantech for Europe, overseeing our strategic advocacy towards the EU Institutions. He has over a decade of experience in Brussels, working at the intersection of capital markets, institutional investors, and sustainability. Before joining Cleantech for Europe, he was Managing Director of the Investment Company Institute’s Brussels office and Executive Director of the European Sustainable Investment Forum. Earlier, he led financial services public affairs at an international communications firm and practiced law specializing in financial regulation and energy. Victor holds degrees from Maastricht University, Sciences Po Paris, and Georgetown University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. A qualified lawyer in the Netherlands and New York, he is a Dutch-French dual citizen.‍