However, even the most impressive support schemes will ultimately be in vain if we go back to “business as usual.” At the EIB Group, we are doing everything in our power to safeguard the health of our planet and the health of people, by preventing workers from losing their jobs, by backing vulnerable industries and by helping countries absorb the most violent economic shocks. But to be effective, recovery efforts also need to focus on more inclusive development which addresses the longer-term global crises we face. Simply rebuilding isn’t enough. We need to build back better.
Alongside the EIB Group’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, we renewed our commitment to climate action and environmental sustainability. We are a key partner in delivering on the European Commission’s NextGenerationEU recovery package. While Europe must recover from the pandemic, we must do so in a way that does not sacrifice our commitment to more sustainable development. A return to “business as usual” would push global temperatures up. Instead, we must channel Europe’s massive recovery efforts to build a bulwark against climate change, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and growing inequalities.
At the EIB Group, we are doing our part. Our aim is to support at least €1 trillion in climate action and environmental sustainability investments during the next decade, a critical period for climate and biodiversity. In 2019, we committed to raising the EIB’s annual financing for climate action and environmental sustainability to more than 50% of total lending by 2025, and to aligning all our activities with the Paris Agreement by the end of 2020. During 2020 we worked hard to put these goals into practice. In our role as the EU climate bank, the EIB Group set out a Climate Bank Roadmap, which was approved by the EIB Board of Directors and the European Investment Fund (EIF) Board of Directors in 2020. We also updated our EIB Climate Strategy, laying out plans to support the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
In 2019, with the approval of our new energy lending policy, we set a final deadline of 2021 to end our financing of energy projects reliant on unabated fossil fuels. Now, armed with our new Climate Bank Roadmap, which is the result of months of intense work and in-depth dialogue with our external stakeholders, we will put into operation the European Green Deal. This will have far-reaching effects on the way we lend money, issue financial guarantees and invest in equity funds.
As part of our enhanced efforts to tackle climate change, the EIB Group became a supporter of the Task force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) in 2020. For the first time, we prepared a TCFD report to describe how we integrate climate-related risks and opportunities in our governance structure, strategy, risk management and metrics and targets.
Another major achievement of 2020 was the EIF’s signature of the Principles for Responsible Investment and its continued cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which will help the EIF to develop joint initiatives for sustainable finance and to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As you will read in this report, the entire EIB Group is contributing to a more sustainable and resilient future, in Europe and globally.
THE EIB GROUP
The EIB Group is the European Union’s long-term financing institution. It provides finance and technical assistance to achieve sustainable, inclusive growth through two complementary entities, the European Investment Bank (EIB or Bank) and the European Investment Fund (EIF).
The European Investment Bank – the EU bank – is owned by the EU Member States. We are the world’s largest multilateral borrower and lender. The finance and assistance we provide contributes to the achievement of EU policy goals. We also operate globally as a multilateral development bank.
The European Investment Fund provides risk finance to benefit micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and stimulates growth and innovation across Europe. It provides financing and expertise for sound, sustainable investment and guarantee operations. EIF shareholders include the EIB, the European Commission, and a wide range of public and private banks and financial institutions. By developing and offering targeted products to its financial intermediaries, such as banks, guarantee and leasing institutions, microcredit providers and private equity funds, the EIF enhances access to finance for small and medium enterprises.
2020 IN FIGURES
TOTAL FINANCING
PUBLIC POLICY GOALS:
Environment: €16.82 billion
Infrastructure: €14.99 billion
Innovation and skills: €14.43 billion
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and mid-caps:[2] €30.56 billion
TRANSVERSAL OBJECTIVES:[3]
Climate action financing:[4] 37% of total EIB financing
Economic and social cohesion and convergence: >35% of total EIB financing[5]
COVID-19 related financing: €25.46 billion
CLIMATE BANK ROADMAP: PUTTING THE PARIS AGREEMENT INTO PRACTICE
With a bold vision and substantial financing, the EIB Group is turning its climate ambitions into reality. The Climate Bank Roadmap, approved in November 2020, sets out our commitment to support the European Green Deal. It puts into action the decisions taken by the EIB Board of Directors in November 2019. The roadmap draws on constructive, strategic discussions with a broad range of stakeholders, and transforms the EIB Group into the European Union’s climate bank.
“Following the recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and accelerating evidence of both the climate and environmental emergencies, the need for the EIB Group as the EU climate bank to decisively support efforts to achieve the 1.5 degree temperature goal was evident. But we have done more than that. With the updated EIB Climate Strategy and the clear plans laid out for the next five years in our Climate Bank Roadmap, we have put in place a robust framework with ambitious climate action targeting 1.5 degrees, a renewed effort for increased adaptation, strong environmental action and a real focus on people.
Nancy Saich EIB chief climate change expert
It is people that are being already, and will be further, affected by climate change and environmental degradation. These impacts will be felt everywhere, but always fall hardest on the most vulnerable. The planet will ultimately be fine – but can humans continue to live here healthily and successfully? And can we make the urgent changes we need to make while leaving no one behind? This is why our Climate Bank Roadmap not only lays out how the EIB Group will address Paris alignment in all its activities – but also how we will support a just transition for all.”
In November 2020, the EIB Board of Directors, comprised of representatives from the EU Member States, approved the updated EIB Climate Strategy and the EIB Group Climate Bank Roadmap 2021-2025. The roadmap was also approved by the EIF Board of Directors separately. It is the operational framework setting out how the EIB Group will support the objectives of the European Green Deal, the European Union’s strategy