European Investment Bank to end all loans to oil and gas firms

(The Guardian, 28 Oct 2021) The bank will stop lending to polluting companies that want to finance low-carbon projects.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the EU, has vowed to close a loophole that allows it to lend money to oil and gas firms despite a ban on financing fossil fuel projects.

The EIB, the world’s largest multilateral bank, which is active in 160 countries, announced in 2019 it was phasing out lending to fossil fuel projects within two years, as it sought to become a “climate bank”.

Although the move was welcomed as a victory for the climate movement, campaign groups said the bank had failed to close several loopholes.

Now the lender has acted to close one inconsistency with the bloc’s climate goals.

From 2022 onwards, the EIB will stop lending to polluting companies that want to finance low-carbon projects. This would mean, for example, the EIB will no longer finance an oil company’s wind energy project. All recipients of EIB loans will be required to draw up decarbonisation plans.

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The Guardian, 28 Oct 2021: European Investment Bank to end all loans to oil and gas firms