A roadmap against climate change in Spain and the world

Spain is one of the European countries most affected by climate change. Temperatures are rising faster than the global average and the threat of heat waves, droughts, floods and fires is permanent. There is no easy solution, but there is a sure way to meet this challenge: the Climate Bank’s roadmap.

Our organization has prepared this plan to respond to the challenge of global warming and reflect our firm commitment to contribute to the fulfillment of the objectives established in the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal. I firmly believe that Europe will be the first continent to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and the roadmap is a definitive step in that direction. We must act quickly and reorient the different sectors of the economy.

Our role in Spain is already significant. In 2019, the group provided almost €9 billion to finance 92 projects and Spain was our second largest customer. About 30% of this volume of financing was dedicated to climate action, with an increase of 75% compared to the previous year, reaching 2,240 million euros.

However, the climate and environmental emergency demands more ambition. Our plan foresees major changes in the way we finance projects, assess risk and support innovation and the progressive and sustainable transition to a low-carbon economy. We will stop funding fossil fuel-based projects and devote more funding to renewables and cutting-edge technologies.

Tackling climate change around the world will require trillions of euros of investment. It is a path that involves short-term risks and costs, but maintaining our current economic model would be infinitely more burdensome in the long run.

The roadmap is an unequivocal sign of the joint effort of our organisation and the EU in the fight against climate change. We will intensify our work on climate to support one trillion euros in climate and environmental investments over the next ten years. We will increase the proportion of our funding earmarked for these targets from the current 30% to over 50% by 2025.

This financing will be vital if Spain is to reach the goal of obtaining 74% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, and 100% by 2050. In this way, Spain could reduce its energy imports by at least 15% over the next decade, saving more than 75 billion euros in fossil fuel imports.

The Climate Bank’s roadmap directs our support towards more sustainable projects, through the implementation of new investment products and high-quality advisory services. We will focus on clean energy, the most innovative technologies and digitalisation to modernise our economies and improve inclusive growth and sustainable competitiveness.

The Climate Bank’s roadmap also has a fundamental social dimension. We are committed to helping regions whose economies may be affected by leaving energy-intensive industries behind. We will devote more resources to a just transition that provides training, employment and support to people whose livelihoods need to change as the transition to a greener economy progresses.

We will also increase our support to developing countries struggling to adapt to climate change. More severe droughts, rising sea levels, loss of biodiversity and other effects pose a risk to the food and water supply, and make life more dangerous in these fragile areas of the world.

Five years ago, during the United Nations Climate Conference in Paris in 2015, we committed to providing $20 billion in annual funding over the next five years to address the climate emergency. We are well on our way to surpassing that goal. Since 2012 we have provided €170 billion of climate action finance, which has mobilised more than €600 billion for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help citizens cope with climate change.

The coming years represent a major step forward. We are working to protect the future. We have no time to waste. It is time to show that we are up to this challenge. The future begins now!

Ricardo Mourinho Félix is Vice-President of the European Investment Bank

Source: Five Days