Global South

The letter, signed by nine NGOs, think tanks and an asset management company, acknowledges the positive step the European Investment Bank has taken with its draft policy "EIB and Energy: Delivering Growth, Security and Sustainability" but also suggests a number of elements that need to be tightened to make the EIB's energy lending policy policy fit for purpose in reducing risks of high-carbon lock-in for the EU electricity system.

The EU’s global leadership on climate change is set to take another blow if the European Investment Bank, the EU house bank and one of the world’s largest public lenders, adopts a future energy lending policy as presented yesterday to the public. The draft policy includes weaker standards for lending to coal plants than currently proposed in both the US and Canada.

With each passing day, there is less chance that we will manage to keep the planet within the "safe" limit of two degrees Celsius global warming that would avoid disastrous climate change. The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development can play a pivotal role in leveraging more private investment for sustainable energy. Both institutions are now reviewing their energy lending policies.

Quote from the WWF comments: "The EIB’s objective should support the EU’s 2050 decarbonisation goal. An EIB substantively revised energy lending policy should precludes investment in assets that lock‐in high carbon emissions and instead focuses on delivering a European zero‐emission energy system by 2050."