Financing the transition
Further details on the systemic and synthesis for this European Green Deal Criterion are available in the MERLIN Deliverable Report page 106.
The total restoration budget reported on all activities (Indicator FI2) and across all case studies was €466 million, with 97% of this value being represented by the Small Stream and Basins case-studies which included the Emscher which represented the single largest restoration investment reported across all case studies at a total of €408 million. When the Emscher was removed from the FI2 data, the average restoration budget reported across the remaining case studies was €5.2 million. The proportion of public finance contribution to the restoration budget was on average 50% for the Large Transboundary Rivers case-studies, 83% for the Peatlands and Wetlands case-studies, and 79% for Small Streams and Basins case-studies. Two case studies reported securing an upscaling budget in the latter years of the MERLIN Project; the Tisza floodplain securing 30% and the Forth Basin at 85% of the estimated required budget for upscaling.