The data was published today in Brussels by the new head of the European Union Bank, Nadia Calviño.
In 2023, the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group granted €88 billion in financing to more than 900 projects, with funds allocated to “green” investments reaching a “record value” of €49 billion.
The data was released today in Brussels by the new head of the European Union Bank, Nadia Calviño, who stated that the European Investment Bank Group (which includes the bank and the fund of the same name) last year concluded “financing agreements worth €88 billion to support common priorities, and invest in… Sustainable physical infrastructure, research, innovation and digitalization, small and medium-sized enterprises that are at the heart of the economy, as well as in social infrastructure such as health and education,” supporting more than 900 people. Projects.
Nadia Calviño said: “It is expected that financing from the European Investment Bank Group in 2023 will mobilize about 320 billion euros in investments that will reach 400,000 companies and support the creation of 5.4 million job opportunities. These are impressive numbers and results.” At a high-level event in the Belgian capital, he talked about investing in the European Union and focusing on the InvestEU program (which relies on budget guarantees from the Bank).
According to her, “more than half of the financing mobilized last year, a record amount of €49 billion, was used for climate action and environmental sustainability,” compared to €38 billion in 2022.
“I can safely say, given last year’s results, that the EIB has strengthened its brand as the climate bank, both inside and outside the EU,” he concluded.
The organization's data reveals that since 2021, the group has mobilized €349 billion in environmental investments, and estimates that it will achieve the target of allocating €1 billion to “green” finance by the end of the decade.
In 2023, the Bank's investments included more than €21 billion under the REPowerEU plan, a program created to reduce Europe's dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the environmental transition.
Of the total “pie”, there is also €8.4 billion for projects in the world's least developed and vulnerable countries, €27 billion in investments under the EU's Global Gateway Strategy and another €2 billion in financial aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion. .
Nadia Calviño has been president of the European Investment Bank since January 2024, after a contested “race” to lead the institution.
This, which is today considered one of the highest positions in the European Union institutions, this time attracted the attention of a number of senior European officials, after it was led for 12 years by the only candidate, the German Werner Hoyer, who served two years and six years. -Term years that ended at the end of 2023.
This renewed interest in leading the EIB reflects a new page for what is the world's largest multilateral financial institution by assets and which will be crucial to supporting the EU in its “green” and digital goals.
Owned by member states and headquartered in Luxembourg, the European Investment Bank is the Community bloc's financial institution, which financially supports projects inside and outside the EU aligned with European priorities, such as growth, improving employment, combating climate change and digital transformation.
It is up to the President of the EIB to lead decisions such as borrowing and granting of financing, especially loans and guarantees.
