This page is part of the E3G Public Bank Climate Tracker Matrix, our tool to help you assess the Paris alignment of public banks, MDBs and DFIs.
| Paris Alignment | Reasoning |
| Some progress | EIB does a small amount of advisory work but does not have a specific NDC support programme. In general EIB provides much less technical assistance compared to other MDBs. |
| Climate-related technical assistance at policy-level | NDC ambition increase goal? | Non-NDC technical assistance |
| The Bank is not a member of NDC Partnership nor is there a specific NDC advisory programme. | The Bank’s Climate Strategy and Climate Bank Roadmap Position Paper reference development of more ambitious NDCs. | Other advisory services are available. |
Explanation
The EIB does not do a lot of technical assistance or advisory work compared to other MDBs.
Nationally Determined Contributions
EIB does not have a specific programme or initiative to support NDCs and it is not part of the NDC Partnership. The EIB states that it supports NDCs indirectly by working with national sectoral authorities (water, transport etc) and sub-national entities.
The EU as a whole provides technical assistance on NDCs via the European External Action Service, the EU’s equivalent of a foreign ministry.
Nevertheless, the Bank claims in its Climate Strategy to support countries to achieve their National Adaptation Plans and NDCs. More information on exactly how it does this would be welcome. The Bank’s Position Paper states it will use NDCs and National Energy and Climate Plans to guide investments.
The EIB Energy Lending Policy refers to “dialogues” with Member States and other countries on how to use its “advisory services” support their National Energy and Climate Plans under EU law and Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement.
The Bank says it will work to help countries develop and deliver more ambitious NDCs.
Recommendation: The EIB should consider setting up a specific technical assistance programme to support the implementation and upward revision of NDCs, as all other MDBs have done, and should consider joining the NDC Partnership.
Fossil fuel subsidy reform
No information was available on how the EIB is helping countries with energy subsidy reform, or on analysis which the EIB had conducted on energy subsidy reform to support its work.
Other technical assistance
In the Climate Bank Roadmap, EIB states that “under the European Investment Advisory Hub,work is ongoing to scope the needs and delivery options for a European Green Debt Advisory Platform, a comprehensive advisory programmeto raise awareness, build capacity, and provide support to improve the quantity and quality of the issuance of green debt (bonds and loans) to finance climate action and environmental sustainability investments.”
The EIB’s Climate Strategy states the EIB is involved in “advising” or advisory work, including the sharing of substantial technical and financial expertise.
The European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH) provides advisory support and resources for financial intermediaries. It includes e-learning modules related to climate action and environmental sustainability, a climate action and environmental sustainability document library and climate action and environmental sustainability eligibility check and reporting tools, The Platform was developed in partnership with the European Commission. URBIS is an advisory platform for cities within EIAH.
Other notable technical assistance initiatives include the Cleaner Transport Facility (CTF) which deploys the EIB’s technical and financial capacity to boost opportunities for cleaner transport, including charging infrastructure.
The European Local Energy Assistance programme (ELENA) is a joint technical assistance initiative by the EIB and the European Commission providing grants for technical assistance focused on energy efficiency, distributed renewable energy and urban transport.
It should be noted that the High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (HLEG) has also recommended that the EIB establish a ‘Sustainable Infrastructure Europe’ facility to expand the size and quality of the EU pipeline of sustainable infrastructure projects.
Last Update: November 2020