The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering discontinuing fossil fuel financing by the end of 2020, according to a plan unveiled on Friday 26 July but still to be approved by the 28 EU Member States.
The EIB wishes to “increase its support for the energy transition in the EU”.
Andrew McDowell of Ireland, one of the EIB's eight Vice-Presidents, said that stopping the financing fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) was “in line with Europe's commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement”.
Signed in 2015, this agreement is intended to limit global warming by 2100 to less than 2 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels and, if possible, to aim to continue efforts to limit temperature increases to 1.5 degrees. To achieve this, greenhouse gas emissions, which are caused by fossil fuels, would have to be significantly reduced.
In 2018, the Bank provided €2.5 billion for fossil fuel projects. The NGO Friends of the Earth hopes that the EIB's Board of Governors will approve this game-changing project. “These discussions will begin in September”, McDowell said.
Ursula von der Leyen, the future President of the Commission, proposed transforming the EIB into a “climate bank”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)