- Supporting sustainable and inclusive development around the world
- Ambitious proposals for climate action and environmental protection
- New initiatives to economically empower women
The European Investment Bank (EIB), as a key player in international development, will be announcing a number of initiatives with its partners on the margins of the IMF/ World Bank Group annual meetings, taking place in Washington DC.
The EU bank will be meeting regional partners from across the globe, as well as the world’s Multilateral Development Banks and fellow International Financial Institutions. EIB experts will be exploring new cooperation opportunities, to address today’s challenges such as responding to the climate emergency, building a resilient and inclusive society and protecting our natural capital such as oceans.
Ahead of the IMF/World Bank Group annual meetings, EIB President Werner Hoyer said:
“The world is in real need of bold multilateral action. From trade policy and development to climate action, Europe can and must itself provide leadership. As the financial arm of the EU and an investor across the globe we are in Washington to reaffirm our commitment to play our part. We must act immediately and swiftly if we want to ensure a sustainable transition to a “net-zero” emissions economy. As the recent IPCC report warned us, the effects of climate change are hitting us more strongly than ever before. Natural hazards such as droughts, floods, forest fires, food shortages and disease pandemics will become more frequent in the near future, potentially displacing millions of people. We need to all join forces to build a resilient and inclusive society that leaves no one behind. Later this week we will sign new commitments that will enable us to pursue this objective, in line with the EIB’s new ambitions for climate action and sustainable development.”
Energy and the transition to a decarbonised future will be a key topic of discussion, notably during the event organised at the Atlantic Council on the 17th of October where EIB President Hoyer and Vice-President Andrew McDowell will debate with partners the way forward and the details of the EIB’s own ambitious proposals, in the context of the EU’s climate action agenda and the “New European Green Deal” envisaged by the incoming President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Gender equality will also be high on the EIB’s agenda as the EU bank prepares to sign an important pledge together with other financial institutions to support women’s economic empowerment on the 18th of October. This is part of the EIB’s commitment to deliver on its own gender strategy which seeks to protect and promote the rights of women in and outside Europe.
Also on the 18th of October, the EIB and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) are expected to announce strengthened cooperation to better implement joint projects including important measures to support climate resilience.
The EIB, alongside its partners, the French and German development banks AFD and KFW, will take stock of progress of the Clean Oceans Initiative one year on, on the 20th of October. The initiative was launched last year in Bali on the margins of the IMF/WB Group meetings, to tackle waste and plastic pollution in rivers, seas and on land. The goal is to finance €2 billion in public and private sector projects by 2023.
EIB senior representatives available for interview in Washington
- Werner Hoyer, EIB President
- Ambroise Fayolle, EIB Vice-President for Development
- Emma Navarro, EIB Vice-President for Climate Policy
- Andrew McDowell, EIB Vice-President for Energy
- Vazil Hudak, EIB Vice-President for Regional Development and Cohesion
- Luca Lazzaroli, Director General, Deputy Head of Operations
- Eila Kreivi, EIB Head of Capital Markets
- Maria Shaw Barragan, EIB Director of Global Partners Department
- Debora Revoltella, EIB Chief Economist
EIB
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union and is owned by the EU Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals both in Europe and beyond. The European Investment Bank is active in around 160 countries. With USD 100bn of climate-related investment committed in the 5 years up to 2020 in support of the Paris Agreement, the EU Bank is among the world’s largest financiers of climate action.
See EIB’s participation in the IMF/ World Bank Group annual meetings