The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s lending arm and the world’s biggest multilateral lender, committed a record €2.7 billion (US$2.9 billion) in new financing for climate adaptation projects in 2023, more than doubling the 2021 figures, according to its recently released 2023 sustainability report.

These investments are crucial for building resilience against the impact of climate change and align with the goal of dedicating 15% of the EIB’s climate action financing to adaptation projects by 2025.

EIB-financed projects included in the 2023 reporting will mitigate the emission of 5.2 million tonnes of carbon equivalent – which corresponds to the annual carbon footprint of some 520,000 European households – demonstrating the environmental benefits resulting from the bank’s financing activities.

For the first time, the EIB provided figures about the emissions generated by the larger portfolio of outstanding operations directly financed by the bank. The EIB assessed the emissions generated from investments worth €380 billion, covering 8,000 finance contracts, which represent around 80% of the EIB assets currently out on loan.

Projects covered by those finance contracts are estimated to have generated around 45 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in 2023. The emissions stem in part from fossil fuel projects signed before the bank stopped financing unabated fossil fuel energy projects in 2019. Since 2021, all new EIB operations are aligned with the Paris agreement.

The bank has been tracking and reducing its carbon emissions from internal activities since 2007. In 2023, it continued to lower its greenhouse gas emissions per employee. Over the last five years, it cut its annual gross emissions by 18.4% and reduced net emissions per employee by 39%.

Key initiatives from the bank’s corporate climate programme for 2021-2025 include:

• Digitalizing work processes, reducing printing and waste, and using office space more efficiently
• Encouraging low-carbon travel, improving virtual collaboration to reduce trips and adopting hybrid/electric vehicles
• Working with business partners to integrate sustainability and circular economy principles.

The bank’s report also highlights its actions to combat pollution, promote a sustainable blue economy, protect biodiversity and support recycling. Over the past three years, green finance made up more than 50% of its total investments signed, putting it on track to meet its first commitment under its climate roadmap.

The EIB is also on track to achieve the second major commitment laid out in the roadmap, which calls for supporting €1 trillion in climate and environmental sustainability financing in the critical decade to 2030. The bank has mobilized €354 billion in green investment from 2021 to 2023 cumulatively. Since 2021, all new EIB operations align with the Paris agreement, fulfilling the third commitment of the roadmap.

“Climate change is the challenge of our generation,” says Ambroise Fayolle, the EIB’s vice-president in charge of climate action and the environment. “Therefore, climate financing has become key in EIB group financing, contributing to making the green transition in Europe a success.

“This year’s report shows that the EIB has consolidated its position as ‘the EU’s climate bank’. And we are not just supporting clients in their green trajectory – as our own carbon footprint indicates, we are also working hard to reduce emissions ourselves.”