This paper was developed by Ecofys for the German Ministry for the Environment (BMUB) to serve as a briefing and discussion paper for the Conference on how to improve climate financing in the EU towards 2030 targets, which took place on 18 May 2016 in Brussels. It is based on research conducted by Ecofys and DIW Econ as part of the project “Analysis of options for optimal implementation of climate finance in the EU”, funded by BMUB. The paper describes the current situation, lays out fields of action of climate action financing in the EU and formulates the researcher’s suggestions for improvement. The inputs and results of the presentations and discussions at the Conference will again feed into a brochure that will be published by BMUB in 2017 to serve as an input for further discussions on future climate finance in the EU.