Funding sustainable investments

Towards an EIB Climate Strategy

Following the public consultation launched in January 2015, the Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) is set to adopt the Bank's Climate Strategy on the 22nd September

Being an Institution of the European Union under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Investment Bank is in line with the EU 2050 Energy Roadmap and with the EU 2050 Low Carbon Economy Roadmap. The Bank, which provides loans and guarantees, takes equity participations and grants technical assistance, has made climate action one of its top priorities and has developed a leading position among international finance institutions in this area.

The EIB acknowledges that one of the key hurdles in the fight against climate change is to enable the investments required in this transition. In fact, significant additional finance, estimated in the trillions of Euros, has to be mobilised for climate action to be effective: this why the Bank aims at playing a leading role, amongst financial institutions, in mobilising the finance needed to achieve the global commitment to keep global warming below 2˚C and to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Following a public consultation earlier this year, the Bank has drafted a Climate Strategy that is now on the table of its Board of Directors, which is set to adopt it on the 22nd September. The Strategy will guide the EIB medium to long-term actions within and outside the EU, in order to reinforce its finance for projects which bear a positive climate impact. Accordingly, the Strategy identifies three strategic areas where to focus the Bank's climate action: 1) Reinforcing the impact of climate financing; 2) Building resilience to climate change; 3) Integrating climate change considerations across all EIB standards, methods and processes.

At least 25% of the EIB lending is allocated already today to specific climate action projects: between 2010-2014 the Bank provided more than EUR 90bn to climate action, making it one of the largest climate financiers globally. The Bank has been instrumental in getting off the ground critical emerging renewable technologies such as offshore wind and concentrated solar power (CSP), and has made important inroads in difficult sectors such as energy efficiency, low-carbon RDI and adaptation.

Future support will be even more focused on those activities with the highest impact, and the pipeline of climate action projects will be further expanded. Innovative climate financing solutions will also be developed, addressing market failure and seizing opportunities to attract private finance, including through the capital market. More generally, climate considerations will also be examined across all activities, in order to ensure that gains are made whenever possible and feasible.

The Bank has drawn up a list of eligible sectors under climate action, which include energy efficiency (including highly efficient CHP), electricity, heat or fuel production from renewables and associated infrastructure, as well as all transport projects that result in the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. In general terms, any activity in a sector not included in the Strategy with demonstrable substantial reductions of GHG will be potentially suitable for funding, in particular when included in EU and Member State policies, such as for example the EU Roadmap for moving to a low-carbon economy in 2050, or the Renewable Energy Action Plans and the Adaptation Programmes adopted at national level.