The European Investment Bank (EIB) is excited to be joining its regional partners, civil society and fellow finance institutions at the 2023 Finance in Common Summit in Cartagena, Colombia from Monday to Wednesday next week, and will aim to contribute to discussions in numerous sessions. Here are some of the key announcements envisaged that may be of interest to participating media.
On Monday 4 September, EIB President Werner Hoyer will speak at the opening plenary of the summit, where he is expected to warn that we are not on track to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals without urgent and concerted action. In this context, he will highlight the original aims of the Finance in Common Summit: to develop more sustainable finance products and services; to support the flow of capital to sustainable projects; to strengthen the capacity of financial institutions to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals; and to advocate for policies that promote sustainable, inclusive finance. President Hoyer will outline projects in the works along these lines that may still produce significant progress within this decade.
At 10 a.m. COT (GMT-5), we will present the latest edition of the EIB Climate Survey together with Columbian development bank Bancóldex. This time we polled over 10 000 people in 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region on their perceptions and concerns about climate change. The survey's findings are critically important for policy choices as we progress towards a sustainable future. The results include data on public sentiment about the effects of climate change, perspectives on government actions, economic impacts, and future energy choices and in-depth data for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, offering a detailed and nuanced view of the region.
At 10.30 a.m., EIB Global’s Acting Managing Director Markus Berndt will participate in a workshop on Driving Global Change: The Role of PDBs to Mobilise Private Capital for Sustainable Infrastructure.
At 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday 5 September, a side event will take place on Sustainable Blue Finance for Ocean-Positive Action. Participants — including the EIB, led by Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix — will work towards a joint commitment by public development banks to work together on a Blue Finance Roadmap. The roadmap should identify financing gaps and realistic funding opportunities, facilitate knowledge sharing and encourage accountability. Progress on the roadmap could then be presented at the UN Oceans Conference 2025. The joint commitment would help ensure that public development banks renew their ambition on the blue economy and marine protection.
At the plenary on Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation and Social Inclusion (9.45 a.m.), EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle will speak about the opportunities and challenges associated with financing nature-based solutions. This will be followed by a project clinic on adaptation and nature-based solutions (3.30 p.m.) where experts from the EIB, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank will advise project promoters on how to improve their financing opportunities.
We are also happy to have been able to time a project signature to coincide with the summit: at 2 p.m. on Tuesday we will be signing a $50 million investment in a Latin-American climate change fund. This is a great example of the kind of climate action projects that we are financing globally as the EU climate bank, under the EU Global Gateway initiative.
At 3.45 p.m., during the panel on Alliances to Scale Up Sustainable Financing in Emerging Markets, we expect to launch the Global Green Bond Initiative, together with the European Commission, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), KfW, PROPARCO (AFD Group) and the Green Climate Fund. The aim of the initiative is to support green bond markets in emerging markets and developing economies and enable the development and strengthening of local capital markets.
On Wednesday 6 September, the EIB’s Head of Country and Financial Sector Analysis Barbara Marchitto will participate in a workshop entitled From Climate to Nature Related Risks – Lessons Learned and How to Move Forward. To coincide with this, the EIB will be publishing a working paper on climate risk in Latin America and the Caribbean. The paper highlights how a region contributing less than 5% of global emissions is among the most affected by climate change worldwide — experiencing significant damage from storms and hurricanes — and how these risks spill over to the financial sector.
To schedule interviews with EIB spokespeople at the Finance in Common Summit, please contact Enrico Possenti (e.possenti@eib.org, mobile +352 691 285 532) or Allar Tankler (a.tankler@eib.org, mobile +352 691 285 796), who will both be present at the event.