Werner Hoyer President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) stated,” At the EIB we have worked closely with Egypt to deliver a successful outcome of the COP, both globally and domestically. The EIB has worked with Egypt since 1979. And we will continue our partnership to support the country’s ambitious National Climate Change Strategy 2050, including investments in green energy, transportation, agriculture and water resources with new projects to be announced later this week that will accelerate the country’s green transition and strengthen resilience to climate change impacts.”
During press conference at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh on Monday, Hoyer added, “ At the same time the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued several dire warnings that the window to limit global warming and adapt to climate change impacts is rapidly closing. The United Nations just released a report saying the climate plans of parties under the Paris Agreement would put the world on track for around 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century.”
He further stated, “At the EIB we are determined to do our part. In 2021, the EIB delivered a record green finance of 27.4 billion euro globally or 51% of our total activity. This includes investment in floating wind farms in Europe, solar energy in Africa, clean transport in Asia and climate adaptation in Latin America.”
The EIB president called on the COP27 participants to put innovative partnerships to finance green technologies at the centre of our discussions, added that the EIB is determined to work with all our partners and step up our financing of the green solutions of the future.
Two weeks ago, the EIB’s Board of Directors, agreed €30bn of additional clean energy investment over the next five years to support the European Commission’s REPowerEU plan. This extraordinary initiative will help the EU escape the shackles of fossil-fuel dependencies, meet its climate goals and contribute to the decarbonisation of the global economy.
Scaling up climate finance is daunting of course, due to budgetary constraints at a time of an economic downturn, and even more so in the Global South, where public coffers are simply not deep enough. Development banks can play a key role in this collective endeavour, de-risking investments and crowding in contributions from the private sector, Hoyer disclosed.
