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The
move by the European Union's lending arm is part of a push to
use its financial might to support the EU's emissions-cutting
goals, and bring the bank's activities in line with the Paris
Agreement on climate change.
The EIB last year rewrote its energy lending rules to stop
funding unabated fossil fuel power plants from the end of 2021,
with certain exemptions. Now it is turning to other sectors, in
a "climate roadmap" that will impose tighter criteria on
projects seeking support from the end of 2022.
"Support will be withdrawn from airport capacity expansion and
conventionally‐fuelled aircraft," according to a draft of the
roadmap, which is dated Oct. 22 and set to be discussed by EIB
directors at a meeting on Nov. 11.
The draft says the bank will instead focus on improving existing
airport capacity by investing in safety and decarbonisation.
The EIB said it does not comment on leaked documents. An EIB
source confirmed the draft was submitted to its board of
directors for consideration.
By 2025, the EIB wants over half of its lending activity to
support green projects, to help leverage 1 trillion euros ($1.18
trillion) of investment this decade.
The new rules aim to ensure that all EIB activities - even those
not directly targeting climate change - do no significant harm
to the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Greenpeace acknowledged the move on airports, but said the draft
rules could enable support for other polluting investments and
efforts to address the carbon footprint of farming and road
transport did not go far enough.
"There's no excuse for the EU's self-proclaimed climate bank to
allow funding for fossil fuels, motorway expansion, and
industrial farming," Greenpeace finance campaigner Piotr Wojcik
said in a statement.
The draft rules would block funding for farming activities that
expand into carbon-storing or high-biodiversity habitats. Road
infrastructure investments will be assessed against criteria
including a shadow carbon cost, which will climb to €250 per
tonne of CO2 by 2030.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
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