EIB and Nordic Investment Bank strengthen cooperation on green transition in the Baltic Sea region

• High-level meeting between the two international financial institutions reaffirms shared goals on climate, energy and innovation.
• The last five years have seen some €10 billion in co-financed projects, with more to come.  

The top management of the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) met in Luxembourg today to discuss future collaboration between the two institutions. The visit took place in the margins of the NIB’s Board of Directors meeting in Luxembourg, following the EIB’s visit to the headquarters of NIB in Helsinki in 2019.

The two banks discussed a wide range of topics, including the European Green Deal, the impact of the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis in Europe and the need to invest in new sources of energy and new technologies, as well as the crowding in of the private sector to attract more investments in sustainable infrastructure, and financing research and innovation.

EIB President Werner Hoyer said: “This is the first high-level meeting between the two banks since the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. We share the goal of a swift and just green transition in the Baltic Sea region and of stronger investments in energy efficiency, renewable sources of energy, and economic support for local communities and small and medium-sized business. Our two banks are also committed to supporting innovation, which can help us find the technologies needed to reach a carbon-neutral world in 2050.”

NIB President and CEO André Küüsvek added: “The Russian aggression in Ukraine has led to an energy crisis. The need for action is urgent. Europe needs to step up its energy resilience and accelerate its transition to a low-carbon economy. The Baltic Sea region has to push even harder to build resilience in a sustainable way. While the energy crisis is pushing economies towards recession, societies need to tackle the issue of the just transition, with the immediate burden of higher energy prices. As international financial institutions, we have a stabilising role to play during crises. We feel our joint responsibility and are ready to act.”

The EIB and NIB have a good and longstanding relationship, with a number of co-financed and parallel financed projects in NIB’s eight Nordic-Baltic member countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden), mostly in the public sector, corporates and project finance, ranging from co-financing to deeper cooperation. The last five years have seen some €10 billion in co-financed projects, with more to come. 

Some of the recently co-financed/parallel financed projects include the Northvolt large-scale battery plant (Sweden), European Spallation Source research infrastructure (Sweden and Denmark), Käppala wastewater plant (Sweden), new environmentally friendly trains to Mälardalen (Sweden), Vaasa Central Hospital (Finland), Lapland Central Hospital (Finland), Lahti Education Infrastructure (Finland), new low-floor trams for the city of Riga (Latvia) and the Kekava bypass (Latvia).

Background information

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is active in some 160 countries and is the world’s largest multilateral lender for climate action projects. The EIB Group has set “ensuring a just transition for all” as one of the four overarching objectives in its Climate Bank Roadmap 2025. The EIB’s ambition is to support €1 trillion of climate action and environmental sustainability investments in the decade to 2030 and align all its new operations with the goals and principles of the Paris Agreement.

The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is an international financial institution jointly owned by the governments of Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The bank promotes the sustainable growth of its member countries by providing long-term financing for projects that improve productivity and benefit the environment.