The European Investment Bank (EIB) has doubled its financing of climate adaptation projects as intergovernmental banks increasingly step in to provide early funding for climate transition projects in a bid to attract institutional investment.
Last year, the bank, which acts as the lending arm of the European Union, invested more than €2.7bn in climate adaptation projects, doubling its commitments compared to 2021. It aims to scale this up to €1trn in climate financing by the end of the decade.
With the financing provided last year, the EIB aims to avoid 5.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions yearly.
“Climate change is the challenge of our generation. Therefore, climate financing has become key in EIB Group financing, contributing to making the green transition in Europe a success,” said Ambroise Fayolle, EIB vice-president in charge of climate action and the environment.
Examples include the EIB’s €250m collaboration with Belgian logistics firm WDP to invest in green energy infrastructure across the continent, which was announced today, and an investment in Rondo Energy backing venture capital decarbonisation projects.
However, the bank continues to grapple with its existing carbon investing legacy, as this year’s Sustainability Report revealed for the first time in greater detail. While it committed to cease lending to fossil fuel projects in 2019, disclosing its portfolio-level emissions for the first time, the EIB revealed that across €380bn worth of investments, 80% of its total assets, it had generated around 45 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions last year. This was in part due to emissions from its legacy fossil fuel assets, the bank said.
In total, the EIB Group signed financing deals worth €88bn last year, which are aimed at mobilising around €320bn in investment.
