2020 is on track to become the hottest year on record – Siberia is in the throes of a record-breaking heatwave and around the world there are unprecedented storms and cyclones. What these hazards have in common is that it’s often the most vulnerable people in society who suffer the most – namely women, children, the elderly and indigenous communities. Efforts to address these impacts are being further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. So many vulnerable communities are trying to rebuild in the aftermath without access to any form of aid.

Between 1999 and 2018, more than 12,000 extreme weather events took place worldwide, killing approximately 495,000 people and causing economic losses equivalent to approximately US$ 3.54 trillion (Eckstein et al. 2019). The human and economic cost of addressing climate change is already high and this cost is only set to increase. If left unchecked, climate change will continue to impact societies, as well as setting back gains made toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In light of this, Eurodad welcomes the initiative for the European Investment Bank (EIB) to become the EU Climate Bank.

In response to the public consultation on the EIB Climate Bank Roadmap, this paper outlines what the Roadmap should do to fulfil the commitment to international climate finance. The paper recommends:

• Adequacy: The EIB should scale up international climate finance for developing countries and increase access to finance.
• Transparency: The EIB should strengthen existing climate vulnerability and risk assessments, and monitoring and reporting systems.
• Equity: The EIB should ensure inclusiveness, gender-equality and climate diplomacy.

Eurodad also joined the call of over 30 civil society organisations for the EIB to:

• Exclude high-carbon activities in the transport, energy and heavy industry sectors, starting with an immediate and explicit ban on any investments involving the increase in capacity for motorways or airports.
• Stop supporting high-carbon companies, and financial intermediaries, that lack time-bound, science-based targets and decarbonisation plans to align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.

Read Eurodad’s full submission to the consultation.

A full list of contributions submitted to the consultation can be found on the EIB website