European Investment Bank Group Activity Report 2019

About the European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank is the world’s biggest multilateral lender. The only bank owned by and representing the interests of the EU countries, the EIB finances Europe’s economic growth. Over six decades the Bank has backed start-ups like Skype and massive schemes like the Øresund Bridge linking Sweden and Denmark. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the EIB Group includes the European Investment Fund, a specialist financer of small and medium-sized enterprises.

EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK

2019ACTIVITY REPORT

HOW TO READ THE REPORT - THE GREEN THREAD

Wherever you are, there you will find the weather. So too with this report, because climate is THE GREEN THREADthat runs through the European Investment Bank’s work in 2019, specifically ACTION TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE. Climate action has long been a significant factor in the Bank’s work. In 2019, we responded to the climate and environment emergency with NEW AMBITIONS FOR CLIMATE and ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENTover the coming decade and a NEW ENERGY LENDING POLICY.

To keep global warming to the 1.5° Celsius rise targeted by the Paris Agreement, carbon emissions must be under 580 gigatonnes. For all of us. Forever. At the present rate, we’ll hit that figure by 2032. But, with increased investment, it’s not inevitable. The investment need is, however, enormous. In Europe, estimated investment in energy systems, for example, will need to double in the next decade to €400 billion.

That’s where the European Investment Bank is key. A public bank, the EU bank invests in everything from long-term infrastructure to innovative battery projects, and it STEPS INTO SECTORS WHERE INVESTMENT IS TOO SLOW, such as home energy-efficiency renovations. In a new feature of this report, key experts at the European Investment Bank lay out what they believe the climate crisis means for us, what NEW TYPES OF FINANCINGwe’ll be developing to reach our targets, and what kinds of PROJECTS WE’LL BE BACKING.

The projects in this report cover every area of economic development – infrastructure, innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises. To illustrate the depth of our current climate action and our commitment to future green investment, we have written about each of these areas, with a focus on climate and environment. CLIMATE INFRASTRUCTURE, GREEN INNOVATION, AND CLIMATE ACTION FOR SMES. Globally. For example, you’ll read about a Romanian artificial intelligence device to cut food waste in the same story as a project that boosts yields for Peruvian coffee farmers. Because we work across the globe to find SOLUTIONS FOR THE CRISISthat threatens us all, wherever we are.

This report tells stories of ingenuity and commitment, job creation and prosperity. Woven together with THE GREEN THREAD OF SUSTAINABLE EIB INVESTMENT, they illustrate the opportunity climate and environmental action presents for all of us to safeguard our world for future generations and to build a prosperous, clean and green economy.

FOREWORD BY THE PRESIDENT

2019 HIGHLIGHTS

THE EIB GROUP IN YOUR COUNTRY

TOTAL EFSI APPROVALS

OUR CLIMATE ROADMAP AND ENERGY LENDING POLICY: >€1 TRILLION FOR <1.5°C

POLICY VOICES

INNOVATIVE ENERGY GENERATION: COLD FUSION? YOU’RE GETTING WARMER

DIGITAL FUTURE: 5G FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

FUTURE MOBILITY: AN ELECTRIFYING RACE

FINANCE VOICES

CLIMATE ADAPTATION IN DEVELOPMENT: GET USED TO IT

URBAN CLIMATE ADAPTATION IN THE EU: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE CITY

PROJECT VOICES

HEALTH AND CLIMATE: A PRESCRIPTION FOR CLIMATE ACTION

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE KITCHEN: AN APPETITE FOR CLIMATE ACTION

AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE: GOOD BACTERIA AND STRETCHY MOZZARELL

SOCIAL VOICES

SOCIAL HOUSING: SHELTER FOR THE CLIMATE

JUST TRANSITION: COHESIVE AND CREATIVE

WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM

GOVERNANCE

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK’S OPERATIONAL PLAN FOR 2020

“ We promise to dedicate 50% of our financing to climate action and environmental sustainability as of 2025. Everything we do will be fully aligned with the Paris Agreement.”

I write about the achievements of the European Investment Bank during the last year at a time when every week – every hour – is crucial. As the EU bank pits its expertise and financing power against COVID-19, we are also mindful of a critical decade ahead in the fight against climate change. Though there are many who doubt whether coronavirus and climate change can be addressed simultaneously, we are confident that this is an absolute necessity. The immediate battle to return our economies to health must also lay the foundations of a sustainable future.

In 2019, the Bank invested in Europe’s competitiveness, in new technologies and innovation that will secure our quality of life for coming generations — and increase our prosperity.The growing proportion of our work aimed at tackling global warming proves that climate action is a business opportunity, as well as an existential necessity. The new threat of COVID-19 makes this report even more timely. We signed several deals last year that demonstrate our engagement in the fight against disease — a commitment that has become still stronger with our central role in Europe’s coordinated coronavirus response.

We laid down an ambitious marker last year. We promise to dedicate 50% of our financing to climate action and environmental sustainability as of 2025. Everything we do will be fully aligned with the Paris Agreement.After all, it would make no sense to invest 50% in climate and the environment, while using the other 50% to finance projects that harm the environment.

This is just as true of the coronavirus crisis. Every economic shock accelerates long-term structural shifts. Delivering on our increased climate and environmental sustainability ambitions is the best way for the European Investment Bank to help the economy recover from the pandemic. For example, the energy transition can contribute to the recovery by creating more jobs, new and fast-growing industries, more competitiveness and less energy dependence.

Last year we approved our new energy lending policy. This includes a commitment to end investment in conventional fossil fuel projects from the end of 2021. The European Investment Bank is the first international financial institution to make such a pledge. This is a striking example of European leadership on the climate front.

As the EU bank, the European Investment Bank acts as the financial arm of EU policy. In the great European climate action project now under way, we are in close partnership with the European Commission and all Member State governments. The work highlighted in this report demonstrates the expertise that makes us a key pillar of the European Green Dealannounced by the Commission in January 2020.