Climate action at the European Investment Bank: an overview

Briefing    |    13 December 2019

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The EIB had already proclaimed itself the EU’s climate bank long before the new EU Commission of Ursula von der Leyen presented the idea of transforming a part of the Bank into Europe’s Climate Bank. It has been over a decade now since the EIB established a target for climate financing at the level of 25% in the EU, and by 2020 the Bank will have increased climate action lending outside the EU to 35% of total annual lending.

However, it is too soon to call the EIB the EU’s Climate Bank. It will still be several years before it stops disbursing money to fossil fuels projects, and its new Energy Lending Policy contains several loopholes that may allow further financing of gas projects.