European Investment Bank allocates €2.7 billion towards climate change adaptation efforts
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has made significant strides in its commitment to combating climate change, as revealed in its 2022 activities. Ambroise Fayolle, EIB Vice-President in charge of climate action and the environment, emphasised the importance of climate financing in making the green transition in Europe a success.
In 2022, the EIB, acting as the lending arm of the European Union, agreed on around €88 billion in financing for climate-related projects. This investment is intended to attract a total of about €320 billion in investments, marking a substantial increase from the previous year.
One of the key areas of investment was climate adaptation projects, where the EIB invested more than €2.7 billion. In fact, the EIB doubled its financing of such projects compared to 2021. This investment is expected to avoid 5.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
The EIB's increased focus on climate financing has not come without challenges. Despite the EIB's commitment to cease lending to fossil fuel projects in 2019, it generated around 45 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions last year, across €380 billion worth of investments. These emissions were partly due to emissions from the EIB's legacy fossil fuel assets, as revealed in the 2022 Sustainability Report.
Notable investments made by the EIB in 2022 include a €250 million investment in green energy infrastructure across the continent, in collaboration with Belgian logistics firm WDP. The EIB also made an investment in Rondo Energy to support venture capital decarbonisation projects.
The EIB's increased climate financing is part of a broader trend among intergovernmental banks to provide early funding for climate transition projects. The bank aims to scale up its climate financing to €1 trillion by the end of the decade, with a focus on attracting institutional investment for climate transition projects.
Climate change, as Ambroise Fayolle referred to it as "the challenge of our generation," remains a pressing issue. However, the EIB's increased commitment to climate financing offers a glimmer of hope in the fight against this global crisis.
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