12 October, Luxembourg – The European Investment Bank (EIB) must try harder to diversify its climate action lending portfolio, according to an independent evaluation of the bank’s financing published this week. By predominantly providing finance to only a small number of sectors, many other climate change mitigation projects are underrepresented in the bank’s portfolio, particularly in the area of energy efficiency.
While the bank achieved its overall target – 25% of its lending in the period 2010-14 having contributed to climate change mitigation – the report showed how this financing is overly concentrated on large infrastructure projects, whose emission reductions may be minimal.
The report details how energy efficiency in buildings and industry is often overlooked by the bank, despite their high potential for climate change mitigation, due to the smaller size and greater complexity of the projects.
The evaluation recommends that in the future the bank focuses more closely on the emissions impact of its lending, rather than predominantly on the volume of the loan.