Hi John,
This could be a game changer.
The European Investment Bank - the world’s biggest public lender - wants to stop financing fossil fuels.
But now the Bank needs its Board, instructed by the finance ministers of the EU, to give its approval to its new draft policy. The ministers are the people with the power to make this breakthrough official - or water down the new lending rules and lose this historic opportunity.
The decision could already happen during the Board meeting on the 10th of September. It’s going to be a close call. That’s why it’s so important that we raise the pressure now, building huge and vocal public support to a Fossil Free EIB. If we succeed, it will be much, much harder for the undecided Directors to oppose this new lending policy.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the world’s biggest multilateral public bank. Each year it invests billions of euros of public EU money. Its decisions on where this money flows can shape entire economies.
That’s why the EIB’s new “Energy Lending Policy” [1], which defines who can benefit from the Bank’s loans and guarantees, could be a breakthrough for the energy transition Europe urgently needs to address the climate crisis.
It’s crucial that the politicians - our finance ministers - follow the EIB’s climate leadership and support the new policy. Some ministers have already come forward as allies, and some will surely oppose the exclusion of fossil fuels. It could be down to our pressure to tip the scales.
Sign the petition for a Fossil Free EIB.
We know that public pressure works, because it has worked before. The EIB already admitted it [2]: it was our Fossil Free EIB campaign, our petition, our participation in public consultations, and finally our action at their doorstep which helped push them to exclude all fossil finance in their draft policy. We need to use this power once again. This is the last stretch!
Onwards,
Julia for the 350.org Europe team
PS: There’s no time to waste, so take action right now. First, sign the petition, and follow the next steps to raise the pressure even higher: we’re directly targeting the media, and the German politicians holding the key swing vote.
References:
[1] EIB energy lending policy: Supporting the energy transformation.
[2] EIB on Twitter
350.org is building a global climate movement. You can connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and become a sustaining donor to keep this movement strong and growing.
Update your email address, location, or language.
You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time.