EU bank to stop funding fossil fuels in ‘landmark decision’

Brussels: The European Union’s investment arm has said it will stop funding fossil fuel projects from 2022 as part of a new strategy aimed at fighting climate change, in a decision environmental campaigners hailed as a “significant victory”. The European Investment Bank, the world’s largest multilateral lender, had been criticised by climate groups for funding gas projects that potentially threatened the EU’s commitment to the Paris climate goals.

But despite gas proving a potential sticking point, the EIB’s board of directors — composed of state representatives and the European Commission — approved the new energy policy on Thursday.

“We will stop financing fossil fuels, and we will launch the most ambitious climate investment strategy of any public financial institution anywhere,” EIB President Werner Hoyer said in a statement.