User:Noura2021/sandbox

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In this sandbox I add all read/reviewed text with rewriting, additional references and changes to then contribute to various articles.

Please discuss any contributions on my Talk page. I do rewrite everything to the best of my abilities, and I hope to oblige to all Wikipedia rules - but I am human.

I am happy to receive any advice or be corrected when needed to avoid mistakenly adding irrelevant or breaching content.

Publications:

Navigating supply chain disruptions

From 1960 to 1990, global trade expanded slowly, aided by lower transport expenses and reduced tariffs. Between 1990 and 2010, globalisation progressed rapidly, driven by the information and communication technology revolution that lowered communication costs, along with trade liberalisation and the shift of manufacturing operations to emerging economies (particularly China).

A publication by DG GROW, titled Navigating Supply Chain Disruptions: New Insights into the Resilience and Transformation of EU Firms, examines the impact of recent crises such as raw material shortages, maritime transport disruptions, and the war in Ukraine on the supply chains of EU firms.

The study highlights how EU firms responded with agility to these disruptions, enhancing the resilience of their supply chains by increasing inventories, investing in digital tracking, and diversifying trade partners.

44% of EU firms that import from China reported facing transport and logistics problems, compared to 22% of firms that import solely from within the European Union.

37% of EU firms identified access to commodities and raw materials as a significant obstacle.

34% of EU firms were impacted by disruptions in logistics and transport.

In 2023, the share of EU exports to the United States rose to 21%, compared to 14% in 2010.

Digitalisation in Europe

According to the findings of the EIB Investment Survey (EIBIS), which was performed from April to July 2022 (EIB, 2023), 53% of businesses in the European Union report taking steps to become more digital, such as offering services online. The sizes of the firms and the countries, however, fluctuate significantly (Jaumotte et al., 2023).

Small and medium-sized businesses are falling behind big and medium-sized businesses. Only 30% of microenterprises in the European Union claimed to have taken action to advance digitalization in 2022, compared to 63% of major businesses.

In comparison to 71% in the United States, the proportion of EU enterprises employing advanced digital technology increased from 2021 to 2022, reaching 69%.

Advanced digital technologies are used by 80% of companies with more than 250 employees compared to 45% of companies with fewer than ten employees. This imbalance is probably going to delay Europe's digital transition.

Finland and Denmark are the top two digital nations, according to the (EIBIS) ranking, with Belgium and Sweden following.

While 60% of companies that were already utilizing sophisticated digital technology invested in becoming more digital in 2022, just 36% of non-digital firms in Europe took advantage of the crisis to start investing in their digital transformation.

In contrast to the United States, where 58% of non-digital enterprises invested in being more digital in 2022, less European businesses have begun investing in digitalization.

More businesses (83%) in the machinery and transport equipment industry than (52% in the building sector) employ cutting-edge digital technologies.

In the second year of the pandemic, the proportion of EU businesses that did not invest in digitalization declined. 20% of EU companies, down from 26% in 2021, did not invest in their digital transformation in 2022.

The proportion of persons in the European Union who work for companies in the "neither" group decreased from 31% in 2021 to 25% in 2022, but it remained much higher than the percentage in the United States (15%). It is heartening that fewer businesses and employees fall into this group over time.

Advanced digital technology have already been embraced by 69% of EU businesses. Some businesses that have incorporated cutting-edge digital technologies into their operations did not boost their digitalization during the pandemic. The category for these businesses is "advanced." Finally, companies that employ digital technologies and who also increased their investments in digitalization in response to the pandemic are categorized as "both" since they have accepted the digital transition wholeheartedly. One in two American businesses and 42% of European businesses increased their investments in digitalization in response to the pandemic fell into this group in 2022 (an increase of 9 percentage points from 2021).

One in two American businesses and 42% of European businesses increased their investments in digitalization in response to the pandemic in 2022 .

Businesses that were slow to adopt digital technology were less confident that revenues would increase in 2022 compared to 2019. In the European Union, just 35% of businesses in the "neither" category anticipated an increase in sales, as opposed to 46% of businesses in the "both" group. In the US, this difference was 33 percentage points larger.

Access to digital infrastructure is viewed as a significant barrier to investment by 14% of EU businesses polled for the EIBIS. Access to and speed of the internet are important factors.

In comparison to half of municipalities in Southern Europe and 45% of municipalities in Northern and Western Europe, about one-third of municipalities in Central and Eastern Europe can be categorized as digitally advanced.

Municipalities that are more technologically advanced and capable are less likely to claim that there has been a shortage of investment in digital infrastructure. This is especially apparent in Southern Europe, where municipalities that have invested in digital infrastructure during the past three years (from 2019 to 2021) are more likely to believe that their investment has been generally appropriate than municipalities that have lagged behind in this area.

EIBIS CESEE overview

Intangible assets (R&D, software, training, and business processes) were invested in by firms in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe countries at a lower rate than the EU average (24% vs 37%). The proportion of enterprises aiming to prioritize innovation in new goods and services was higher in CESEE (27%) than in the EU (24%) and the US (21%).

Manufacturing enterprises (36%) and big firms (31%), in particular, have innovation as an investment priority. Among CESEE enterprises, Slovenia (38%) and the Czech Republic (37%), are the most likely to prioritize innovation.

More than two-fifths of businesses (44%) did not experience a year-on-year sales loss as a result of COVID-19 at the time of the interview, and more than half predicted stronger sales in 2022 than before the pandemic.

44% of enterprises incurred losses in 2020 and/or 2021, and 10% did not anticipate to recover from pandemic-era economic losses in 2022.

60% of CESEE enterprises received some type of financial assistance in response to COVID-19, which is the same as the EU average. This was largely in the form of subsidies or other types of non-repayable financial assistance. Only around one out of every ten businesses reports that they are still receiving financial assistance.

Over half of businesses (57%) altered their operations in response to COVID-19. The majority (44%), produced new items (26%), while a minority (16%) reduced their supply chain.

Within CESEE, enterprises in Slovenia (48%) and Poland (44%), were the most innovative, while firms in Slovakia (14%), were the least innovative. In all, 67% of CESEE enterprises deployed at least one sophisticated digital technology, matching the current EU average (69%).

The majority of manufacturing enterprises (94%) and big firms (79%) report engaging in foreign commerce. Since 2021, eight out of 10 CESEE enterprises have seen difficulties in their foreign trading. Almost as many enterprises (73%) believe the conflict and/or COVID-19 are impeding foreign commerce.

Among all enterprises affected by international trade interruptions, 63% reported taking steps to limit the damage, which is higher than the EU average. CESEE enterprises are more likely than the EU generally to increase the number of trading partners to diversify risks from trade interruptions (45% against 37% in the EU).

Uncertainty and skills continue to be significant toward long-term investments barriers, with 87% and 82% of enterprises seeing them as restraints, respectively. In comparison to EIBIS 2021, there is a significant increase in the proportion of enterprises citing energy prices as a limitation to investment (87%), particularly those considering it as a substantial obstacle (63%).

Internal financing will account for 70% of CESEE corporate funding in 2022, followed by external sources (25%).

CESEE enterprises who invested in the previous fiscal year (45%) funded at least some of their investment using external money. As in the EU, this percentage has decreased dramatically, particularly among large enterprises (down from 59% to 46%) and manufacturing firms (down from 56% to 43%).

A third (34%) of CESEE enterprises that used external funding got grants, which is much more than the EU average (21%). The proportion of enterprises in CESEE that are financially limited (9%) has been consistent since EIBIS 2021, but it is higher than the EU average (6%).

CESEE businesses say that climate change is having an impact on their business (a "significant impact" for one out of every 10 enterprises), which is lower than the EU (57%).

The proportion of enterprises in CESEE who regard the transition to stronger climate regulations as a risk outnumbers the proportion that see it as an opportunity (36% vs. 18%). In comparison, the EU as a whole has a rather balanced perspective (32% risk, 29% opportunity). Almost 90% of enterprises in CESEE have already taken steps to cut GHG emissions, which is comparable to the EU average.

By mid-2022, Bulgaria and Slovakia had recovered the least from the pandemic, while Slovenia, Lithuania, and Estonia had recovered the most.

In 2022, 77% of enterprises in CESEE will invest, a little lower percentage than in the EU. The percentage of investment enterprises in CESEE ranges from 61% in Bulgaria to 90% in Slovenia.

In comparison to enterprises in the EU and the US, firms in the CESEE area invested more in machinery and equipment (53% versus 49% in the EU, 47% in the US) and less in intangible assets (24% vs 37% in the EU and 33% in the US).

Infrastructure enterprises (22%) were somewhat more likely than other firms to invest insufficiently. The same was true for SMEs (21%) against large businesses (15%).

Firms in Lithuania (28%) and Latvia (30%) are the most likely to believe they have invested insufficiently during the previous three years. The proportion of enterprises that believe they have overinvested was largest (but still minor) in Hungary (7%), Bulgaria (7%), and the Czech Republic (6%).

Most companies in CESEE (59%) and the rest of the EU (57%) projected their revenues to be greater in 2022 than they were in 2019. In the United States, the percentage is much higher (71%).

The extent to which enterprises projected sales to recover varies by industry and nation. Sales recovery is less common in construction, where 40% of enterprises forecast stronger sales, than in manufacturing (66%), and it is more common among large firms (65%) than SMEs (53%).

The proportion of enterprises expecting sales in 2022 to be lower than they were before the pandemic is highest in Slovakia (21%), Latvia (20%), the Czech Republic (18%), and Bulgaria (17%), and lowest in Lithuania (11%) and Poland (9%).

COVID-19 has had a negative impact on 45% of the enterprises in CESEE. Almost one-third of those surveyed (13% of total enterprises) did not anticipate a recovery, whereas the vast majority did.

Even throughout the pandemic, 41% of enterprises observed an increase in revenue, and the majority of them predicted stronger sales in 2022.

In response to COVID-19, 60% of enterprises in CESEE got financial assistance, which is the same as the EU average.

Subsidies are the most common sort of financial support received by enterprises in CESEE (47%).

Manufacturing and service businesses are the most likely (both 65%) to have received financial assistance, while infrastructure enterprises are the least likely (46%).

Over half of businesses surveyed in EIBIS 2022 (57%) altered their operations in response to COVID-19. The majority (44%), produced new items (26%), while a minority (16%) reduced their supply chain.

In 2021, slightly more than a third (35%) of CESEE enterprises created or introduced new goods, processes, or services as part of their investment activities, the same percentage as in EIBIS 2021 and in line with the current EU average.

In EIBIS 2022, 12% of enterprises in CESEE report the development/introduction of new goods, processes, or services to either the country or worldwide market, mostly driven by firms in the manufacturing sector (18%). Furthermore, large enterprises (15%) were more likely to engage in this form of innovation than SMEs (9%).

In line with EIBIS 2021, one in every seven enterprises in CESEE (14%) may be classed as active innovators — that is, firms that spent heavily in research and development and developed a new product, process, or service — however this figure is lower than the EU average of 18%.

In EIBIS 2022, more CESEE enterprises are incremental innovators (8%) than leading innovators (6%) among active innovators.

Overall, 67% of CESEE enterprises deployed at least one sophisticated digital technology, matching the current EU average (69%).

Manufacturing enterprises are the most likely to have implemented various digital technologies (47%), while construction firms are the least likely (14%). Large enterprises (49% versus 27%) are more likely than SMEs to employ various technologies at the same time. CESEE enterprises excel at robotics (49%), the Internet of Things (42%), and platform implementation (38%).

Slovenia and Slovakia have the most enterprises engaged in foreign commerce within CESEE. In Romania and Bulgaria almost four out of every ten enterprises not involved in foreign commerce at all.

More over half of CESEE enterprises report exporting products or services in 2021 (57% vs 51% in the EU general), while a similar number (58%) report imports (versus 54% in the EU overall).

Almost half (45%) of CESEE enterprises say the Russia-Ukraine crisis and COVID-19 have impeded foreign commerce, which is somewhat lower than the EU average (50%). Businesses in Latvia are the most likely (85%) to claim they have been influenced by at least one of the variables, while firms in Bulgaria and Croatia are the least likely (both 66%).

The most often reported long-term hurdles to CESEE investment are future uncertainty (87%), energy prices (87%), and a lack of qualified labor (82%). These results are comparable to EU averages.

Internal financing will account for 70% of CESEE corporate funding in 2022, followed by external sources (25%). Intra-group finance accounts for approximately 4% of total corporate investment in CESEE. Internal finance accounted for a higher proportion in CESEE than in the EU as a whole (70% against 65%).

Finance sources fluctuate according on business size. Large enterprises finance a greater proportion of their investment through intra-group funding than SMEs (6% against 2%), while SMEs finance a lesser proportion (68% versus 74%).

Romania has the greatest proportion of enterprises that use external funding (32%), while the Czech Republic has the lowest (18%).

Three-quarters (75%) of enterprises that acknowledge using external funding report having access to bank financing in the previous fiscal year.

The Clean Oceans Initiative 2023

Recent studies suggest that 12 million tonnes of plastic garbage reach the oceans each year. The usage of billions of facemasks and gloves during the coronavirus outbreak has been exacerbating the situation. Estuaries, coral reefs, fish, and millions of households that rely on the waters are all threatened by pollution.

Two billion people worldwide lack adequate garbage collection facilities to capture harmful plastics. Improved wastewater treatment and stormwater management in many poor nations would prevent part of the 1.5 million tonnes of microplastics from entering the marine ecosystems each year.

The annual value of products and services generated by marine and coastal resources is projected to be €2.5 trillion.

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the Italian national promotional institution and financial institution for development cooperation, and the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), the Spanish promotional bank, became new partners in October 2020.

The Clean Oceans Initiative declared its intention to increase its financing aim to €4 billion by the end of 2025 during the One Ocean Conference in February 2022, at which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) joined as the initiative's sixth member.

By February 2023, the program had met 65% of its goal, with €2.6 billion spent in 60 projects benefiting more than 20 million people across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe.

The EIB loaned Agua y Saneamientos Argentinos S.A. (AySA) $80 million to help modernize water and wastewater infrastructure in Buenos Aires. In the Buenos Aires metropolitan region, the project will expand a sewage network, a wastewater treatment facility, and a water treatment plant.

The initiative will minimize the risk of waterborne infections and promote public health by boosting access to sanitation, particularly for low-income and vulnerable individuals in the region. Furthermore, it will assist to keep microplastics out of the Atlantic Ocean by reducing plastic pollution in the Reconquista River.

The financing will be used to expand the wastewater treatment plant Las Catonas, which will serve 350 000 people. A new sewage network will also be built across the city, serving about 24 000 persons.

The new infrastructure will help safeguard the environment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by recycling biogas and decreasing the flow of untreated effluents into surface waterways. The Inter-American Development Bank is helping to fund this project.

After the Mediterranean, the Caribbean Sea is the second most polluted sea. Pollution (in the form of up to 300,000 tonnes of solid garbage dumped into the Caribbean Sea each year) is progressively endangering marine ecosystems, wiping out species, and harming the livelihoods of the local people, which is primarily reliant on tourism and fishing.

KfW has inked a €25.7 million funding agreement to eliminate marine trash and boost the circular economy in the Caribbean's Small Island Developing States. The project "Sustainable finance methods for marine preservation in the Caribbean" will assist remove solid waste and keep it out of the marine and coastal environment by establishing a new facility under the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF).

Non-governmental organizations, universities, public institutions, civil society organizations, and the corporate sector are all eligible for financing. Over its existence, the initiative is estimated to prevent and remove at least 15 000 tonnes of marine trash, benefiting at least 20 000 individuals.

AFD is enhancing living conditions in Lomé, a huge coastal city with a population of 1.4 million, by modernizing solid waste management services. The project involves enhancing garbage collection through the construction of a new landfill that meets international standards.

ICO has approved a $5 million loan to support the building of a sanitary sewerage and wastewater treatment system in Telica, Nicaragua. The initiative is funded by an agreement between ICO and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), which also funds other comparable projects in Central America.

The newly built network will be 17 kilometers long, treat 830 m3 of water each day, and serve around 11 000 people. It will save an estimated half-tonne of microplastics from entering the water each year.

The EBRD loaned a water utility firm in Romania €25 million to assist extend and modernize the country's water and wastewater infrastructure and services. The loan will also contribute to the financing of a water loss reduction initiative with a private operator.

The project will link 105 000 people to sewage and wastewater treatment systems and add 38 000 people to the water delivery network in the areas of Constanta, Ialomita, Calarasi, Dambovita, and Brasov. It will also aid in the reduction of plastic pollution discharged into the Black Sea. Improvements to the current infrastructure will cut annual leakage by 16 million m3.

Forests at the heart of sustainable development

Forests provide protection for livelihoods, communities, and infrastructure. They contribute to the long-term growth of rural economies, which supports integrated territorial development and economic and social cohesion. This is critical to rural communities' well-being. Forests offer subsistence, employment and income to around one quarter of the world's population.

Forests span around 4 billion acres (nearly a third of the earth's land mass) and are home to approximately 80% of the world's biodiversity. About 1 billion hectares are covered by primary forests. Over 700 million hectares of the world's woods are officially protected.

The tropics are home to the majority of the world's forests (45%), followed by the boreal, temperate, and subtropical zones.

Over 90% of the world's forests regenerate organically, and more than half are covered by forest management plans or equivalents.

European forests in EU and non-EU nations comprise more than 30% of Europe's land mass (around 227 million hectares), representing an almost 10% growth since 1990.

Carbon stored in harvested wood products also helps to reduce carbon emissions. Wood harvesting and supply have reached around 550 million m3 per year, while the total increasing stock of European forests has more than quadrupled during the previous six decades. It now accounts for around 35 billion m3 of forest biomass.

Since the beginning of the 90s, the amounts of wood and carbon stored in European forests have increased by 50% due to greater forest area and biomass stocks. Every year, European woods adsorb and store around 155 million tonnes CO2 equivalent. This is comparable to 10% of all other sectors' emissions in Europe.

Approximately 50 million hectares (or 24%) of European forest land is protected for biodiversity and landscape protection. Forests allocated for soil, water, and other ecosystem services encompass around 72 million hectares (32% of European forest area).

Invasive species and other outbreaks and disturbances have become more common in forests in the last several decades. These tend to be directly or indirectly connected to climate change and have negative consequences for forest ecosystems.

Sustainable forest management involves using forests and forests lands in a manner that keep their biodiversity, productivity, capacity for regeneration, vitality and their potential to perform ecological, economic and social functions at every level, without damaging the other ecosystems.

The forestry industry mitigates climate change by boosting carbon storage in growing trees and soils and improving the sustainable supply of renewable raw materials via sustainable forest management.

Sustainable forest management also helps with climate change adaptation by increasing forest ecosystems' resistance to future climatic hazards and lowering the danger of additional land degradation by repairing and stabilizing soils and boosting their water-retention capacity. It contributes to the provision of a wide range of vital ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation, such as wildlife habitats, recreational amenity values, and a variety of non-timber forest products.

Forests with multiple uses are maintained to meet rising demand for forest products, ecological services, and public goods. Globally, 28% are handled for various uses.

Conservation of biodiversity is the major management aim in around 13% of the world's forests, while preservation of soil and water resources is the primary management goal in more than 30%.

The forest landscape restoration strategy seeks to rehabilitate landscapes and repair marginal and degraded areas in order to generate productive forest landscapes that are resilient and long-term. It aims to guarantee that diverse ecological and land-use functions are restored, safeguarded, and preserved over time.

The UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2030 includes important targets such as increasing the area of protected, conserved, and sustainably managed forests (via long-term forest management plans) and increasing the proportion of forest-based products and materials produced from sustainably managed forests.

Forest certification is a globally recognized system for encouraging sustainable forest management and assuring that forest-based goods are derived from sustainably managed forests.

Forest certification is a voluntary procedure in which an impartial third-party organization evaluates the quality of forest management and output against a set of criteria established by a governmental or commercial certification agency.

Forest certification comes in two varieties: 1. forest management certification, which determines if forests are maintained in accordance with a set of criteria; 2. chain of custody certification, which ensures that certified material is identified or kept separate from non-certified or non-controlled material throughout the manufacturing process and is traceable from the forest to the ultimate customer.

Forest certification methods that have been generally agreed upon and approved include the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification and the Forest Stewardship Council. There are other voluntary certification methods that are recognized by the European Union.

The Forest Stewardship Council's Policy on Conversion states that land areas converted from natural forests to round wood production after November 1994 are ineligible for Forest Stewardship Council certification.

Investments that intend to generate or consume agricultural or forestry products connected with unsustainable development of agricultural or forestry operations into land designated as high carbon stock and high biodiversity areas16 after the cut-off date are not considered sustainable under this policy. The EU Taxonomy Regulation establishes the 1 January 2008 as cut-off date.

Sustainable forestry operations must also adhere to the International Labour Organization's18 criteria on human and social rights. Gender equality, health and well-being and community consultation are examples of such rights.

What drives firms' investment in climate change? Evidence from the 2022-2023 EIB Investment Survey

From 2012 to 2022, extreme weather events cost Europe more than €145 billion in economic damages. Climate-related economic losses grew by about 2% each year throughout the same time (European Environment Agency, 2022).

82% of EU firms are worried about the energy crisis, with 60% of businesses seeing it as a major issue.

In Southern Europe, most firms claim that energy costs are affecting their investment. Approximately 88% of firms in the region claim so. Central and Eastern Europe follow, while in Western and Northern Europe less firms see them as negative.

In the US, only 12% of firms surveyed in the European Investment Bank's annual Investment survey claimed they have set carbon emission targets. 41% of European firms claimed so.

in the EU, large firms are more likely to invest in climate action, with 63% of them claiming they are currently doing so, vs. 44% of European SMEs.

57% of firms in the EU are worried about climate change, while in the US the amount is 59%.

The climate transition means enterprises will have to adapt to a quickly changing environment. In Europe, businesses already feel the impact of climate change - 29% of firms taking part in a survey were hopeful about the effects of climate change on their investment, while 32% were negative.

Green transition is viewed as a danger by 41% of energy-intensive manufacturers, compared to 31% of enterprises in non-energy heavy industries.

In 2022 European enterprises spending in climate has climbed by 10%, reaching 53% on average. This has been especially noticeable in Central and Eastern Europe (+15 percentage points) and in small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) (+11 percentage points).

Energy-intensive manufacturers are more interested in climate investments than non-energy-intensive enterprises, with 48% now investing and 57% planning to invest.

energy supply companies are the most motivated about the change, with 78% investing in climate initiatives.

Energy prices remain highly volatile, reflecting shifts in supply and demand and exacerbating anxieties about the future as the crisis in Ukraine goes on. According to the EIBIS, significant uncertainty reduces investment in energy efficiency by 4 percentage points. This is magnified when climate investments are included.

Extreme weather has caused economic losses and supply interruptions for 57% of EU enterprises. Firms are primarily investing in technical solutions and modifying procedures to build resilience against physical dangers. A smaller proportion of businesses opt to get insurance to protect potential losses. Despite this, 67% of EU enterprises are not investing in adaption strategies.

Cross border infrastructure projects

In the case of gas, interconnection is crucial to ensuring Member States' supply security, particularly in regions that have historically relied on a single provider. New import and transit capacity have decreased gas price spreads and increased supply diversification, particularly since 2014, when the European Union launched the Energy Security Strategy to address some Member States' reliance on Russian oil and gas.

Interconnectors in the electrical market provide flexibility that improves energy security and aids in the management of variable-output renewables such as wind and solar, allowing for a higher proportion of renewable energy.

Between 2010 and 2022, the European Investment Bank provided loans totaling around €20 billion for 105 cross-border infrastructure projects across the world, resulting in a total investment of nearly €60 billion. This equates to an average of eight cross-border infrastructure projects each year, with two projects per year in the road and power sectors, three projects every two years in the rail and gas sectors, and one project every two years in the telecommunications sector.

The Bank loaned €20 billion to cross-border infrastructure projects, with €6 billion going to rail and power projects, more than €4 billion going to gas interconnectors, €3 billion going to road projects, and €0.3 billion going to digital interconnectors.

65% of the total value of the loans approved and signed went to cross-border infrastructure projects within the European Union. Lending varied greatly by industry, with over 90% of cross-border rail projects taking place within the European Union, compared to fewer than 35% for digital interconnectors.

51% of the total investment mobilised for digital investments and 56% of the total mobilised for gas interconnectors linked an EU Member State with one or more non-EU neighbours.

Another major impediment to the realization of cross-border infrastructure projects is the requirement for the political support of various administrations. Where a fragmented market structure causes asymmetry in the allocation of a project's costs and benefits across countries, there may also be imbalance in the amount of political prioritising.

Concerns about the growth of power costs, for example, may encourage certain companies to resist interconnection if it erodes an existing cost advantage. Even though increased interconnectivity typically indicates a net rise in overall socioeconomic wellbeing, price fluctuations may have a detrimental impact on certain stakeholder groups (for example, price hikes for energy-intensive consumers or price decreases for energy producers).

Coordination issues often arise when contracts for cross-border submarine digital interconnectors are due to be signed, as these must be coordinated with a diverse group of clients in different countries, usually for large sums, and at the same time, in order to meet the cable vendor's conditions to begin working on the project.

Network tariffs for energy interconnectors are designed differently at the national level, adding to the complexity of cross-border trading.

Accessing public cash or finance from multilateral development banks is difficult. There are several mandates and multiple ways to combine different EU funding streams in the European Union. Borrowers also have a variety of legal and financial agreements.

Financial report 2023

The EIB Group signed a new EUR 8.6 billion assistance agreement for its pandemic response programs in 2022. Due to the extra liabilities weighing on the pandemic recovery, the allocation time for the guarantee goods under the EIB pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF), which was introduced in 2020, has been extended until the end of 2022.

In 2022, the Bank signed new financing worth EUR 65.1 billion (of which EUR 62.6 billion came from its own resources).

In 2022, total payments totaled EUR 57.6 billion (of which EUR 56.7 billion came from the Bank's own resources). Total payments in 2021 were EUR 41.4 billion (of which EUR 40.4 billion came from the Bank's own resources).

The European Investment Bank (EIB) reinforced its position in the global climate and sustainability bond markets in 2022, issuing a record EUR 19.9 billion in Climate and Sustainability Awareness Bonds (CABs and SABs).

The EIB boosted its climate and sustainability funding portion of overall investment from 21% in 2021 to 45% in 2022. The expansion of climate action and environmental sustainability finance enabled significant increase in climate and sustainability funding, including the Bank's first benchmark-sized climate and sustainability challenges.

Borrowings and commercial paper outstanding were EUR 431.6 billion at the end of 2022, up from EUR 440.1 billion at the end of 2021.

Cohesion and regional development Overview 2023

The EIB has pledged to increasing its support for certain regions in its Cohesion Orientation for 2021–2027. Between 2023 and 2024, the Bank will allocate at least 40% of the overall finance it provides to projects in cohesion regions, and at least 45% starting in 2025. The less developed areas of Europe will get at least half of this allocation. The Bank is dedicated to boosting the proportion of transitional and underdeveloped regions that receive its climate action and environmental loans.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has given €44.7 billion to projects in cohesion areas for the European Union since 2021. Included in this is €24.8 billion in 2022 alone, or 46% of all EU signatures.

Cohesion lending had a larger percentage of contributions to climate and environmental goals in 2021 and 2022 than did EIB lending as a whole. The EIB contributed a total of €123.8 billion to projects in EU cohesion areas over the preceding seven years (2014–2020).

Financial instruments, in contrast to grants, have a revolving characteristic since the money invested is eventually returned and may be applied to finance other projects. Strong incentives are also produced by financial instruments for the effective project execution. To maximize the impact of public funding, they are adept at attracting more financial resources from the private sector.

These instruments have so far helped almost 6 600 projects in Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Lithuania, Romania, and Cyprus.

The EIF uses EU funding to handle financial assets worth around €7.8 billion. About 95 000 small businesses have benefited from these instruments, which have also stimulated about €14 billion in funding.

In order to provide a broader advisory support package that includes the programs like European Local Energy Assistance, or ELENA, which supports local energy efficiency projects, and URBIS, a focused initiative for cities, the European Commission and the EIB launched the European Investment Advisory Hub in 2015. InvestEU Advisory Hub currently serves as the single entry point for project promoters and intermediaries seeking advisory service relating to centrally controlled EU investment funds, building on the success of the European Investment Advisory Hub.

With a €730 million loan over 30 years, the European Investment Bank is helping to finance the building of the first segment of Athens' new Line 4 metro, which will connect Alsos Veikou and Goudi. The initiative will assist Athens face the environmental and energy concerns of the twenty-first century by reducing the number of private automobiles on the road by 53 000, resulting in 318 tonnes fewer CO2 released daily.

A venture debt financing arrangement of up to €10 million was struck by the EIB and EnduroSat, a rapidly expanding Bulgarian business that offers services for the international space industry. The funding will help EnduroSat expand and strengthen its capacity to continue creating novel, cost-effective nanosatellites and space services for international commercial, exploration, and scientific teams.

To enhance healthcare, Romania is investing in three new regional hospitals that offer cutting-edge, centralized medical services. The estimated cost of the four-year project is €1.6 billion, with the EIB funding close to €930 million and offering technical support.

At its facility in Kemi, northern Finland, Metsä Fibre Oy, a subsidiary of Metsä Group, is increasing the production of pulp and other bioproducts, such as tall oil and turpentine, using cutting-edge technology. The €1.85 billion project cost includes a crucial €200 million loan from the EIB that was secured in February 2021 to support the Kemi mill.

The EIB provided a loan of €200 million to Abbanoa, the primary water utility of Sardinia, to assist a multi-year investment plan to repair the island's leaky water pipes, which lose almost 60% of the water that flows through them.

Greece and the EIB agreed to establish a new €5 billion fund in September 2021 to support the nation's sustainable recovery and growth. This instrument funds initiatives in accordance with Greece's National Recovery and Resilience Plan and is backed by resources from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. These include both governmental and private investments in urban revitalization, sustainable transport, energy efficiency and renewable energy, to support the green and digital transformation

To promote energy-efficiency initiatives in apartment complexes, the EIB established a financial instrument on behalf of Lithuania's finance and environment ministries. The instrument successfully attracted a further €480 million in private co-financing and utilised €250 million from the European Structural and Investment Funds. The fund assisted in the funding of more than 1 800 projects worth €585 million by the end of 2022.

The EIB was given a mandate by the regional administration to create and administer a financial instrument of up to €50 million in the form of a guarantee in order to support the growth of Andalusia's agricultural and agri-food industries. The goal is to raise up to five times as much money from private sources as has been donated by the government.

Circular economy Overview 2023

In the European Union alone, people and companies generate more than 2 billion tonnes of garbage year, or 4.8 tonnes per person, mostly from the building, mining, and manufacturing sectors.Each individual in Europe generates half a tonne of municipal garbage annually, less than half of which gets recycled.

Over 100 billion tonnes of materials are consumed annually by the world's population, and more than 90% of those resources are lost in the process. The circular economy seeks to resolve this by completely eliminating waste.

The European Investment Bank contributed €3.4 billion to co-finance 118 circular economy projects across a range of industries from 2018 to 2022.

The circular economy action plan, a key component of the European Green Deal, which seeks to achieve the European Union carbon neutral by 2050, was endorsed by the European Commission in 2020. The action plan introduced specific measures to encourage a circular economy, such as making sustainable products the norm in the European Union and concentrating on industries that use the most resources and have a high potential for circularity, like electronics and information technology, batteries and vehicles, packaging, plastics, and textiles, as well as industries related to construction and buildings, food, water, and nutrients.

With the aim of investing at least €10 billion in the circular economy by the end of 2023, the European Investment Bank and the main national promotional banks and institutions of the European Union established the Joint Initiative on Circular Economy in 2019. The Circular City Centre (C3), a competence and resource center inside the EIB that intends to help EU cities in their circular economy transformation, was also introduced at the same time as the European Investment Advisory Hub. The European Commission is helping with the deployment of the C3 at this time.

In addition to food production, product consumption and manufacturing account for around 45% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.

Applying circular economy tactics in only five important industries—cement, aluminum, steel, plastics, and food—could reduce 9.3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2050, or over half of the world's greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacture of commodities. That would mean eliminating all present transportation-related emissions.

Interventions in the circular economy can also slow down biodiversity loss worldwide and aid in its return to pre-2000 levels by 2035. A circular economy also contributes to health protection by lowering soil, water, and air pollution.

In addition, the International Labour Organization predicts that implementing a circular economy by 2030 might result in an additional 7-8 million jobs being created globally.

Even in 2022, less than 10% of economic activity worldwide is circular.

The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund, the first equity fund in the European Union and nations participating in Horizon 2020, received a €65 million investment from the EIB. It strives to finance creative, early-stage businesses and initiatives.

Sustainability report 2022

In 2022, the EIB Group signed loans totalling €17.31 billion as a part of its policy aim of sustainable cities and regions (up from €13.80 billion in 2021). Operations signed in 2022 are predicted to assist more than 25 million people with safer drinking water.

The Grenoble metropolitan region in France is moving closer to a circular economy by establishing a new sorting hub for domestic packaging. It is also expanding its composting facility with a new bio-waste methanisation plant. The bio-waste facility will generate around 10 GWh of bio-methane per year, which will be supplied into the local gas network. The EIB is funding €45 million of the €90 million initiative, which intends to satisfy the primary goals of the European Parliament's European Circular Economy Package. The initiative will aid in increasing recycling in the region, hence lowering pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

The EIB Group signed €20.86 billion in investment in 2022 to meet their aim of sustainable energy and natural resources (up from €15.38 billion in 2021). These 2022 operations would help power about 8.5 million people and build or renovate over 28 000 kilometres of electricity lines.

In May 2022, the European Commission established REPowerEU to respond to the turmoil in global energy markets induced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The strategy has two key goals: to reduce the European Union's reliance on Russian fossil fuels and to address the climate problem by speeding renewable energy deployment and diversifying energy supply.

From 2022 - 2027, the EIB Group will provide an extra €30 billion in loans and equity funding to the REPowerEU programme. By 2027, this package is estimated to attract up to €115 billion in new investment. It adds to the current EIB Group's assistance for the EU energy industry. Over the last decade, energy financing has averaged over €10 billion each year.

The European Investment Bank is giving a €36.7 million loan under the InvestEU programme for a first-of-its-kind commercial demonstration unit for manufacturing precursor cathode active material (pCAM). pCAM is utilised in the manufacturing of sophisticated lithium-ion batteries that contain nickel, manganese, and cobalt.

The European Investment Bank supported innovation, digitalization, and human capital with €17.93 billion in EIB Group funding in 2022 (compared to €20.70 billion in 2021). This funding is projected to give 5G communications services to more than 6.6 million people.

The EIB is lending €200 million to finance investment in school buildings around Ireland. The project is part of the Irish Department of Education's newest round of school capital investment, which seeks to improve the learning environment for about 23 000 pupils as well as teacher working conditions.

The strategy is completely consistent with national education priorities and energy saving measures, as well as the goals of the European Education Area 2025 initiative. Over the previous 41 years, the EIB has invested more than €2 billion on long-term education initiatives in Ireland.

In 2022, the EIB Group provided €16.35 billion in funding to micro, small, medium, and large businesses, up from €45 billion in 2021. In the same year, the EIB helped around 430 000 businesses employing over 5.3 million people.

Environmental sustainability finance include investments that make a significant contribution to the protection of water resources, the circular economy, pollution prevention and control, and biodiversity conservation. The EU taxonomy for sustainable activities defines four non-climate objectives.

Environmental sustainability finance provided by the EIB Group involves investments that support climate action and other benefits (dual benefit investments). Investing in these two areas is combined with investing in climate action to produce the total overall climate action and environmental sustainability aim, avoiding duplicate counting.

The EIB committed €36.6 billion in 2022, or 58% of its own resources, to climate action and environmental sustainability, of which €14.4 billion supported investments that achieved the twin objectives of climate action and environmental sustainability.

Only 5.4% of loans for climate action is dedicated to climate adaptation. This is true even if funding for climate adaptation increased significantly in 2022, reaching €1.9 billion. According to the EIB Climate Adaptation Plan, there is still a lot of work to be done to reach the objective of dedicating 15% of climate action finance to adaptation by 2025.

All sectors saw an increase in funding for climate change mitigation in 2022, but renewable energy, energy efficiency, and research, development, and innovation saw the biggest increases (from €5.7 billion to €7.2 billion, €4.7 billion to €7.1 billion, and €1.6 billion to €2.8 billion, respectively).

The EIF is increasing its financial goals for environmental sustainability and climate change from 2022 to 2024 to 16% in 2022, 22% in 2023, and 25% in 2024.

The Tyrrhenian Link, a 970 km, 1 000 MW double-circuit undersea cable linking Sicily with Sardinia and the Italian peninsula, will be partially funded by the EIB with a total cost of €1.9 billion. The project will increase the two islands' power systems' reliability and enable a more seamless integration of power produced by renewable energy sources, which is required to phase out coal power stations and to achieve climate objectives set with the European Union.

Over 2021-2030, the EIB Group wants to assist €1 trillion in green investment.

Additionally, the EIB Climate Adaptation Plan went into effect in 2022. The founding of the Climate Adaptation Investment Advisory Platform (ADAPT) in March 2022, draws on the assets of joint EIB and EU advisory programmes. The platform provides guidance, skill development, and recommendations at every point of the project cycle.

The Global Gateway in Latin America and the Caribbean

The European Investment Bank signed operations in 2022 to mobilise investments in the Global Gateway worth at least €30 billion.

Since its inception in 1993, the EIB has invested in Latin America, funding over 150 projects across 15 nations for a total of over €13 billion. Since 1978, the EIB has worked in the Caribbean, providing more than €2 billion in finance for more than 220 activities.

Since 2022, the EU bank has signed 15 Global Gateway contracts in this region for a combined €1.7 billion, and it anticipates mobilising investments totaling about €4.6 billion over the next few years.

The EU is offering a guarantee of up to €13 billion until 2027 as part of the EFSD+ open architecture. In order to help our partner nations reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this is implemented through a variety of implementing partners, including international financial institutions and European development finance organisations.

The introduction of green hydrogen in Chile will aid the nation's goal of using only clean energy by the year 2050 as well as the local renewable hydrogen sector. The EU Latin America and Caribbean Investment Facility is giving an extra grant of €16.5 million, while the EIB and KfW are in the process of financing up to €100 million each.

Since 2022, the EIB has approved €217 million, supporting €1.058 billion in investments overall. Additionally, the Bank provided €100 million for COVID-19 vaccination drives and supporting initiatives in these areas.

EIB Group activities in EU cohesion regions 2022

44% of the EIB Group's overall loan in the European Union in 2022—or €28.4 billion—went to projects in cohesion areas. In 2022, projects with a combined investment cost of €146 billion were backed by EIB loans across the EU.

67 transitional areas and 78 less developed regions make up the 145 cohesion regions of the EU. The majority of the less developed areas are found in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in Portugal, Greece, and the southern portions of Italy and Spain. Many of the transitional zones are once prosperous industrial areas that are presently battling globalisation and technological development. They exist throughout the European Union, especially in more affluent nations like France, the Netherlands, and Finland.

In its long-term budget for 2021–2027, the EU's Cohesion policy gives particular attention to regions where economic development is below the EU average.

The EIB Group contributed €28.4 billion to initiatives in cohesion areas in 2022. €24.8 billion, or 45.9% of the Group's overall financing in the EU, was provided by the EIB. In 2022, projects with a combined investment cost of €146 billion were backed by EIB loans across the EU.

30% of all EU loans, or €8.8 billion, was allocated to support the sustainable energy and natural resource policy aim. Of this amount, 55% went to cohesion areas. Due to a strong concentration of sizable renewable energy and power network projects in cohesion regions in 2022, this comprised 36% of loans to those regions.

27% of all EU loans went towards supporting the policy aim of sustainable cities and regions, with 53% of that amount ($7.8 billion) going to cohesion areas. This amounted to 31% of loans to cohesion areas, driven principally by funding for social housing, urban development, and regional development as well as lending under the transport policy aim for safe and sustainable infrastructure.

25% of all EU loans went towards advancing the goals of innovation, digitalization, and human capital, of which €4.6 billion (or 34% of the total) was given to cohesion areas. Due in large part to a low percentage of EIB loans for investments in innovation by private sector organisations, this constituted just 19% of lending to cohesion areas.

In 2022, €9.7 billion (18%) of lending under the SME/mid-cap financing policy aim was made, of which €3.5 billion (36%) went to cohesion areas. This amounted to 14% of all loans made to cohesion areas. In 2022, lending from the EIB Group under the SME/mid-cap financing policy reached €3.5 billion.

For the EU as a whole, the European Investment Bank invested €16.2 billion in climate action and environmental stability in 2022 in cohesion areas. This is over half of the EU's total EIB funding for climate change and environmental sustainability.

In the same year, the Bank's lending for climate action and environmental sustainability in cohesion areas reached €16.2 billion.

In 2021, the SDGs most supported by the European Investment Bank were SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG 11 (sustainable citites and communities.

Despite the fact that larger companies globally tend to be more inventive, less developed countries acquire far less innovations than their counterparts in other regions.

Clean oceans and the blue economy Overview 2023

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the blue economy, which includes all industries with a direct or indirect connection to the ocean, such as marine energy, ports, shipping, coastal protection, and seafood production, could outperform global economic growth by 2030.

Every year, the ocean receives an estimated 8 million tonnes of macroplastics and 1.5 million tonnes of microplastic waste. The populations that depend on the oceans for their livelihood are at risk, as well as the maritime ecosystems. The 2 billion people who lack access to garbage collection services are responsible for a large portion of the rubbish that ends up in the seas by dumping it on land or into rivers.

The financial markets and institutions have a significant impact on the agenda for ocean sustainability. Around 1 800 quantifiable and monetary pledges totaling $108 billion have been obtained since 2017 for the UN Ocean Conference and the Our Ocean Conference.

By funding low-carbon marine solutions, climate change coastal resilience, preservation and restoration of the natural capital of the ocean, as well as innovation, education, and public research pertaining to the ocean, the European Investment Bank invests in a sustainable blue economy. EIB loans to the sustainable blue economy totalled €6.7 billion between 2018 and 2022, generating €23.8 billion in investments.

Since 2003, the European Investment Bank has loaned more than €10 billion to 34 offshore wind projects in Europe, including facilities in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Between 2018 and 2022, the EIB funded €2.8 billion in maritime renewable energy.

The EIB committed to funding floating offshore wind turbines, to allow for the operation of wind energy projects in waters that are deeper than 40 metres, which are frequently too deep for fixed-foundation technology to be economically feasible. The EIB, with assistance from the European Commission, is funding the first initiative in this field, WindFloat Atlantic by the Portuguese business Windplus, with a loan of €60 million under the InnovFin Energy Demonstration Projects programme.

The European Investment Bank committed €314 million between 2018 and 2022 to green marine transport, funding the building of new ships and the retrofitting of current ships with eco-friendly technologies to increase their energy efficiency and lower harmful emissions.

The Bank invests in port infrastructure to improve sustainability and reduce global transport chain emissions. This includes efforts that mitigate pollution from moored ships, such as shoreside electricity and ship garbage receiving facilities. Between 2018 and 2022, the EIB funded €1.3 billion on ports.

In close collaboration with the European Commission's directorates-general for maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Research and Innovation, and Defence, Industry, and Space, as well as the EU Agency for the Space Programme, the European Space Agency, and the Copernicus Marine Service, the EIB has worked to enable the development of blue digital technologies to monitor and protect the ocean.

Between 2018 and 2022, the Bank granted around €881 million to assist in the management of wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste in order to decrease pollution entering the ocean. It also invested €272 million in European Union sustainable seafood production, including fisheries, aquaculture, and seafood processing and preservation.

The European Investment Bank and the Asian Development Bank formed the Clean and Sustainable Ocean Partnership in January 2021 to promote cooperative projects for a clean and sustainable ocean and blue economy in the Asia-Pacific region.

InvestEU Blue Economy, a scaled-up equity initiative based on the BlueInvest Fund pilot under the European Fund for Strategic Investments, brings together the European Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Fund, the EIB Group, and InvestEU finance to mobilise an additional €500 million in EU funds for financial intermediaries investing in this sector. This is intended to result in €1.5 billion in risk financing for innovative small and medium-sized firms and startups that will contribute to a long-term blue economy.

Portugal Blue is a collaboration launched in October 2020 by the EIB Group, Banco Português de Fomento, and the Portuguese government (through Fundo Azul) to expand investment in the blue economy while also supporting climate action and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through venture capital and private equity funds managed by Portugal-based teams, the alliance hopes to raise more than €80 million in investment, including cash from public and institutional investors. Faber Blue Pioneers Fund and Growth Blue Fund are two specialised blue economy funds with a significant focus on ocean sustainability and climate action, chosen by Portugal Blue.

The ideas have been incorporated into the UN Environment Programme's Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative from 2019. Over 70 public and private firms have so far joined the effort, representing $11 trillion in total assets. Members of the initiative pledged to report publicly on their progress in adopting the principles in 2021.

The European Commission released a detailed agenda for a sustainable blue economy in May 2021, including a mission to "Restore our Oceans and Waters" to assist accomplish the European Green Deal's goals. The European Commission and the EIB Group pledged to strengthen their collaboration for a sustainable blue economy, as well as to collaborate with EU Member States to address the finance needs for decreasing pollution in European waters and promoting investment in blue innovation and blue bioeconomy.

The EIB introduced the Blue Sustainable Ocean Strategy (Blue SOS) as a promise at the 2019 Our Ocean conference to promote ocean health, strengthen coastal habitats, and stimulate blue economic activity. Over the 2019-2023 period, the Bank allocated €2.5 billion in financing for sustainable ocean projects.

The Clean Oceans Initiative had contributed more than €2.7 billion in finance for 63 projects as of June 2023, accounting for more than 68% of the €4 billion objective. More than 20 million people will benefit from the projects signed so far, which include better wastewater treatment in Sri Lanka, China, Egypt, and South Africa, solid waste management in Togo and Senegal, and stormwater management and flood protection in Benin, Morocco, and Ecuador.

Finance in Africa - 2023 edition

Bank earnings are driven by more positive than negative forces. Higher loan rates and increased company volumes are two of the most important reasons. The main impact on profitability has been asset quality issues, asset value declines, and employee expenses. Approximately 80% of banks anticipate stronger earnings in 2023 than in 2022.

Half of the banks polled in the 2023 EIB Banking in Africa study want to expand their lending activities quicker in the next 12 months. Banks, on the other hand, are becoming cautious, and credit criteria will eventually tighten. Funding may also be an issue for banks looking to expand their business.

As inflation rose, lending tightened significantly beginning in mid-2021, resulting in a reversal of monetary policy and a weakening of African currency rates. This degradation indicates growing difficulties in obtaining financing.

East Africa has the largest crowding out pressures, whereas North Africa has the lowest.

According to the EIB Banking in Africa report, 65% of banks presently have a gender strategy in place, with another 19% planning to implement one shortly.

Women make up 29% of Sub-Saharan Africa's workforce, and 33% of enterprises are managed by women, suggesting a considerable gender disparity.

Female-led businesses are more likely to invest in innovation, export goods and services, and provide employee training. Furthermore, over half of the banks polled indicate a lower percentage of non-performing loans among enterprises run by women than males.

Despite being as negatively affected as male-led enterprises, female-led firms had somewhat lower rates of bankruptcy and were less likely to close as a result of the pandemic.

According to a study conducted by the European Investment Bank, 13 of the 21 nations investigated have banking sectors that are highly susceptible to physical hazards, implying that physical risk is a larger worry for African banks than the green transition, given emissions in many countries are already low.

According to the 2023 EIB Banking in Africa study, 59% of banks have a climate change policy in place, with another 22% planning to implement one. Furthermore, 65% of banks presently consider climate risk when evaluating new clients or projects, with another 23% expecting to do so in the future.

Useful info from publication pub (climate related):

According to the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI, 2022, October), climate financing more than quadrupled between 2011 and 2020, reaching $653 billion globally on average in 2019/2020, based on a 7% annual growth rate across the decade.

On a worldwide scale, mitigation financing accounts for over 90% of investment in climate finance. Around 70% of this mitigation money has gone towards renewable energy generation, however low-carbon mobility is a key development sector.

While there was a relatively even split between public and private funding sources globally in 2019/2020, the growth rate of public funding has increased significantly over the last ten years because the starting point for public funding a decade ago was significantly lower than it was for private sector funding.

Because of China's prominence in the region, East Asia and the Pacific dominate global climate fluxes, followed by Western Europe and North America. Climate financing in the Middle East and North Africa totaled $32.6 billion (2% of the world total) in 2019/2020, while climate investment in Sub-Saharan Africa was $43.8 billion (3% of the global total).

Even within Africa, climate money flows more freely to the larger economies; about a third of all African climate funding flows to five major markets: Morocco (7% of African climate investment in 2019/2022), Nigeria (7%), Kenya (7%), Ethiopia (6%), and South Africa (5%).

First, Africa is significantly reliant on foreign money, which accounts for approximately 90% of all investments there.

This is formed in part by the significant involvement of multilateral development banks, which sponsored 45% of climate investment in 2020. Overseas governments and bilateral development finance institutions (DFIs) are important sources of support as well.

When compared to the rest of the world, climate investment in Africa is fairly evenly balanced between mitigation and adaptation. In 2019/2020, 49% of investment was for mitigation, 39% for adaptation, and the remaining had dual purpose.

Almost all adaptation money came from public sources: little over half came from multilateral development banks, and another quarter came from governments (of which 90% originated from abroad).

Financial institutions account for around one-third of private sector climate finance in Africa; yet, due to the relatively minor role of private finance, the private sector provides just 4% of overall climate investment.

Between 2019 and 2020, African climate finance increased by 5.6%, thanks to a greater than 8% increase in public sector funding. In contrast, private sector financing fell by nearly 9%, owing to a 30% drop in corporate climate investment.

Over the last decade, worldwide greenfield foreign direct investment has declined at a 3% annual rate, with Africa's global contribution dropping from 12% in 2017 to less than 6% in 2021.

Despite significant developments in sustainable industries such as renewable energy, the continent has failed in recent years to attract aggregate greenfield foreign direct investment. Global greenfield foreign direct investment has been declining at a 3% annual pace over the previous decade, with Africa's global contribution falling from 12% in 2017 to less than 6% in 2021.

remittances continue to be the most important source of external financial flows to Africa, accounting for 3.8% of GDP in 2021. However, only approximately 30% of it is dedicated to economic activities, the majority of which are in the informal sector, limiting its potential for productive transformation.

Domestic government revenues will total $466 billion in 2021, accounting for 17% of Africa's GDP. Assets owned by African institutional investors are expected to reach $1.8 trillion in 2020, representing 73% of GDP.

Every year, Africa loses up to $89 billion to illicit money flows, much exceeding official development aid, which is expected to total $65 billion in 2021.

Accurate sustainability evaluations are challenging due to a lack of sustainable investment frameworks, as well as data and managerial capability restrictions. Currently, fewer than half of Africa's top pension funds report information on sustainability policies and execution (Stewart, 2022).

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development - International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (UNCTAD-ISAR) founded the African Regional Partnership for Sustainability and SDG Reporting in 2022. The collaboration has 53 members as of March 2023, including national corporate social responsibility networks and/or ministries from 27 African nations.

According to a report published in 2023, 59% of banks have a climate change strategy, and another 22% aim to implement one, implying that four out of five banks may have a formal policy in place by 2022.

EIBIS EU Overview 2023

The proportion of EU enterprises that have invested in the last year has returned to pre-pandemic levels (85%), and investment per employee is even higher.

Firms maintained a favourable perspective on investment when interviewed in the spring of 2023, despite more challenging lending circumstances and slower growth. In 2023, the fraction of enterprises planning to raise investment against those expected to decrease investment was 14%.

16% of European enterprises utilised government grants to finance investment, accounting for 26% of overall investment. This assistance has declined significantly, with only 21% of enterprises receiving grants the previous year.

European enterprises continue to be optimistic about the availability of internal financing, with 7% more predicting an increase rather than a decrease in the coming 12 months.

The proportion of enterprises that are financially limited remains high, at over 6%. Depending on the EU country, the percentage ranges from 3% to 18%.

The proportion of enterprises frustrated with the cost of borrowing has risen considerably (from 5% to 14%). The share of enterprises expecting their external funding circumstances to worsen is 9 percentage points greater than the share expecting them to improve, with small businesses being the most pessimistic.

The current economic climate is particularly damaging to creativity. Some of the worst conditions are being faced by the most inventive, and hence riskier, enterprises.

In terms of digitization, EU corporations are catching up with the US. Currently, 70% of EU enterprises employ at least one modern digital technology. However, while EU enterprises have increased their investment in sophisticated digital technology, the advantages of such investments have yet to be realised. To prevent slipping behind US enterprises, EU firms must also be watchful and continue to invest in artificial intelligence, a critical digital technology. (35% of enterprises in the US use big data/artificial intelligence, compared to 29% in the European Union).

Companies increased their investment in energy efficiency. The proportion of EU enterprises spending in energy efficiency has increased to 51%. Overall, 78% of EU enterprises have implemented energy-saving measures in response to changes in the energy markets.

energy costs increased for 83% of EU enterprises. Energy prices increased by more than 25% for 68% of EU enterprises, but just 30% of US firms. Electricity rates in the European Union are typically three times higher than in the United States.

Almost one-third (31%) of EU enterprises believe that the climate transition and ongoing shift to renewable energy sources pose a danger to their operations. However, 29% of businesses see the green transition as a business opportunity.

The proportion of European businesses reporting that climate change is already harming their operations has increased by 7 percentage points since the last study. Climate change is currently creating physical dangers to 64% of businesses.

36% of EU companies have taken steps to address climate change concerns. Large corporations are more active. However, just 13% of businesses have purchased insurance to protect themselves against physical dangers such as harsh weather.

More than half of EU enterprises (56%) have invested in addressing the causes and consequences of climate change, with 54% planning to do so in the next three years. This is much greater than in the United States, where 42% of corporations have invested and 40% plan to invest.

Useful info from publication pdf:

When compared to US enterprises, EU firms were far more likely to report a 25% or greater increase in energy consumption (68% vs. 30%).

In the European Union, 78% of enterprises proposed energy-saving methods in 2023, 67% listed energy contract renegotiation as a strategy, and 62% stated passing on costs to consumers as a plan to deal with energy market trends.

Most firms in the United States preferred to pass on costs to customers - this was implemented by 59% of US enterprises.

Physical climate change hazards affected around 64% of EU enterprises, with just 36% of all EU firms taking action to create resilience against these risks, mostly through investments in solutions to prevent or limit exposure to these risks. Only 13% of businesses purchased insurance to counter climate-related losses.

When compared to US businesses, EU enterprises were trailing in terms of innovation. 39% of EU enterprises created or introduced new goods, processes, or services in the previous fiscal year, compared to 57% of US firms. In both the EU and the US, little more than 12% of enterprises introduced ideas that were novel to the country or the global market.

Similar to the US, over 70% of EU enterprises utilised at least one modern digital technology. Robotics and digital platform technologies are being implemented most effectively by EU enterprises.

Long-term hurdles to corporate investment continue to be energy prices, uncertainty, and a shortage of skills, with 83%, 78%, and 81% of enterprises citing these concerns as restraints, respectively. EU enterprises were more likely than US firms to cite energy prices as a key impediment.

Firms were increasingly unhappy with the cost of credit as monetary policy tightened and external finance conditions deteriorated. The proportion of EU enterprises unsatisfied with finance costs climbed from 5% in EIBIS 2022 to more than 14% in EIBIS 2023.

Financially restricted enterprises account for 6.1% of the total, 1.4 percentage points more than the previous low set in EIBIS 2021. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are particularly hard hit, accounting for 7.2% of all SMEs.

Higher energy costs have limited impact on corporate profits (dnb.nl)

Beginning in the second quarter of 2020, when COVID-19 impacted the economy, aggregate investment levels fell. The corporate sector was the most responsible for this reduction. Nonetheless, investment began to return to pre-pandemic levels in early 2021.

investment levels in Bulgaria and Spain declined by more than 10% and about 5%, respectively.

Countries like as Malta, Cyprus, Italy, and Sweden, on the other hand, had rises of more than 15%.

EU enterprises are optimistic about 2023, with 14% more predicting an increase rather than a drop in investment.

Large companies are more likely to have invested in 2022 and to foresee an increase in investment in 2023 (22.40% net positive), whereas small businesses have roughly the same proportion expected to grow and reduce investment.

Firms in the European Union spent 47% of their expenditure on replacement in 2022, the same as the previous fiscal year.

New product and service investment made for a smaller percentage of overall spending (16%), notably in the construction industry (11%).

Investment in intangible assets (such as R&D, software, training, or business processes) by EU enterprises accounted for around 38% of overall investment. When compared to 2021, this number stayed steady in 2022.

Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Hungary had the lowest average proportion of intangible asset investment, while Ireland and Denmark had the greatest.

Around 13% of EU enterprises report investing too little over the previous three years, which is consistent with the percentage stated in EIBIS 2022, while 3% report investing too much.

Firms in Lithuania (27%), Romania (24%), and Latvia (23%), are the most likely to believe they invested too little in the previous three years.

firms in Greece (14% and Cyprus (15%) believe they invested too much. Firms in Ireland (92%) and the Netherlands (91%) are the most likely to believe they invested appropriately.

EU businesses are still apprehensive about the political or regulatory climate and the economic climate in the coming year (-30% and -26%, respectively).

EU enterprises are still optimistic about the availability of internal financing, with 7% more predicting an increase rather than a decrease in the coming 12 months.

The pattern of investment objectives in the United States is only slightly different from that of the European Union, with more businesses indicating capacity expansion (38%) and fewer firms citing new product/service investment (19%) and replacement (30%).

Investment priorities differ per nation, with no discernible geographical trend. Ireland (24%) and Latvia (21%) had the highest proportion of enterprises with no plans to invest in the next three years.

Climate-related

The largest proportion of firms citing weather events as affecting their operations was found in Spain, with 80%, Portugal 79% and Italy 73%. Denmark, Luxembourg and Latvia (firms) were found to have the least amount of weather events affecting them.

The Netherlands has the largest share of enterprises that have already invested in addressing climate change in the European Union, while Lithuania has the highest share of firms planned to invest in the next three years. Cyprus and Greece have the lowest percentage of enterprises in terms of both investments made and planned investments.

Almost 90% of EU enterprises have taken steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which is higher than the percentage in the United States (82%).

The European Union's key efforts are investments in energy efficiency (59%) and trash minimization and recycling (67%).

When compared to the United States, more European Union enterprises invest in/implement onsite/offsite renewable energy generation and sustainable transportation.

Approximately 32% of EU enterprises have invested in new, less polluting business sectors and technology, to stay up to date with the green transition.

On energy:

Energy cost rises were more common in EU businesses than in US firms (93% vs. 83%).

The proportion of European Union enterprises experiencing a 25% or greater increase in their energy bill was larger than that of US firms (68% vs. 30%).

Manufacturing businesses (74%) were the most likely to have encountered a 25% or more rise in energy spending, while the construction sector had the lowest number of firms suffering a 25% or greater increase in energy spending, despite the fact that more than half of firms (57%) reported this.

Six out of ten (59%) EU enterprises were concerned about energy prices, and five out of ten (47%) were concerned about uncertainty, with some country variations.

Denmark had the lowest proportion of enterprises concerned about energy supplies (24%), regulatory frameworks/stricter climate requirements (47%), and total uncertainty regarding these factors (65%).

A sizable proportion of enterprises in both the EU and the US state that passing on rising energy costs to customers is a priority or strategy (62% and 59%, respectively).

Denmark has the lowest proportion of enterprises concerned about the energy shock, but it also has a higher proportion of firms with plans in place. While Luxembourg has a lower than average number of enterprises concerned about the energy shock, it also has the lowest share of firms that have implemented energy-shock mitigation techniques.

Trade related

In 2023, over half of EU enterprises exported products or services (51% vs. 27% in the US), while 53% imported goods or services (vs. 43% in the US).

Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, and the Czech Republic have the most exporting enterprises, while Malta and Cyprus have the fewest.

Access to commodities or raw materials, as well as interruptions in logistics and transportation, are seen as the most significant barriers to international commerce by EU enterprises (32% and 29%, respectively).

Compliance with new rules, standards, or certifications is viewed as a serious barrier to investment by more EU enterprises than by US firms (17% of EU firms versus 11% of US firms).

EU enterprises appear to be somewhat more likely than US firms to expand stockpiles and inventory, while US importers appear to be slightly more likely than EU importers to lower the fraction of products or services imported from abroad or to diversify or increase the number of countries from which they import.

Austrian enterprises are the most likely to grow stock and inventory, while Romanian firms are the most likely to invest in digital inventory and input tracking.

Romania has the largest proportion of importers lowering the proportion of goods/services imported from abroad, as well as the highest proportion of enterprises diversifying or growing the number of countries from which they import.

Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CESEE) Bank Lending Survey: Second half of 2023

In the previous six months, most parent banks in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe (CESEE) nations have maintained their level of exposure. Major players in Serbia and Romania engaged in some mergers and acquisitions activities.

Cross-border banking organisations indicated a desire to "selectively expand" (50%, up from 45% in the previous round and 30% in the round before that) or maintain the current level of activities in the region (40%).

In the local market, loan demand from bank clients has remained resilient and is predicted to marginally improve. Fixed investments and retail, particularly the housing sector, had a negative impact.

The region's good access to capital trend for subsidiaries is projected to continue, driven mostly by retail and corporate funding. The expected decrease in credit quality did not occur in the recent six months. Banks, on the other hand, foresee an increase in non-performing loans (NPLs), which would hit the retail and business sectors in virtually all countries (excluding Albania).

In March 2023, the Greek bank Eurobank sold its Serbian unit to AIK Banka for €280 million, becoming Serbia's second-largest financial conglomerate.

UniCredit, one of the region's leading banking firms, announced in October 2023 that it will merge its Romanian affiliate with the recently purchased Alpha bank in Romania (for €300 million), creating Romania's third-largest lender.

Intesa Sanpaolo received permission from Russia to sell or dispose of its assets in the nation in September 2023.

Contrary to positive predictions in the previous survey round, overall group exposure to Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe did not grow. In the previous six months, the majority of banks (64%) maintained the same level of exposure to the area (in terms of intragroup funding to subsidiaries and capital), while 18% lowered exposure and 18% grew it.

For the next six months, banks anticipate an overall neutral stance towards the region's banking markets: 9% of international banking groups intend to increase their exposure in the region (compared to 27% in the previous survey round), 9% intend to reduce their exposure, and the vast majority (82%) intend to maintain their current level of exposure.

When questioned about their long-term strategy, cross-border banking organisations indicate a desire to strategically grow (50%, up from 45% in the previous survey round and 30% in the round before that) or, at the very least, maintain the current level of activities in the region (40%). Less than 10% of financial organisations intend to limit their activity in the region selectively.

Most regional subsidiaries are more profitable than the overall group in terms of return on assets (adjusted for risk) and return on equity (adjusted for cost of equity), particularly in many Western Balkan countries such as Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in Bulgaria. However, their perception of profitability has worsened dramatically since the last survey round, with more than half of banks now reporting decreased profitability in several countries (Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania) when compared to total group operations.

Credit demand in the Central, Eastern and Southern European regions remained strong in the first six months of 2023, although it has been steadily declining since 2021-22. Fixed investments and retail components, particularly the housing sector, contributed adversely, while credit demand was once again driven by corporate liquidity requirements (particularly for inventories and working capital).

Bank profitability in Albania has dropped significantly in the last six months. Most international banking groups reported lower return on assets (RoA) and return on equity (RoE) for Albanian operations compared to overall group operations, whereas the picture was more positive in the previous survey run (particularly in terms of RoA, with 100% of banks mentioning equal profitability compared to group level).

In Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe, one-third of Albania's parent banks are considering deleveraging, but all intend to maintain or selectively increase their level of activity through subsidiaries.

The impact of the EIB’s intermediated lending to businesses in the Western Balkans

Financial markets in the Western Balkans area are undeveloped, with loans to non-financial firms accounting for around 23% of GDP, compared to 40% in the European Union (EIB & European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), 2022).

According to a survey conducted in 2023, 45% of enterprises in need of a loan are unable to obtain one, either because they are denied (2%) or because they are discouraged from applying (43%). Unfavourable interest rates are among the most common reasons why businesses are discouraged when applying for a loan, along with a lack of assets to pledge as security and the huge quantity of the loan requested.

Since 2008, the EIB has supported lending to SMEs in the Western Balkans. The EIB's support for SMEs mostly comprises of intermediated lending, which amounts for 8% of enterprises' total assets on average. The EIB has touched 28 400 enterprises and saved over 500 000 jobs by functioning via commercial banks.

The EIB has also provided more focused assistance to enterprises in the Western Balkans. For example, it provided SMEs with a EUR 400 million package to aid in their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It also implemented a series of emergency measures, including as broader qualifying requirements, shorter tenors, and quicker payouts, in an effort to offset the pandemic's immediate detrimental impact on the liquidity and viability of small firms.

EIB financing creates about 15 new employment for every EUR 1 million loan provided, compared to nine new jobs throughout the European Union (Sinnott et al., 2023). These effects are stronger for enterprises that had no prior access to bank funding prior to obtaining an EIB loan. Finally, the data demonstrates that beneficiaries make more investments because their fixed assets grow faster than those of their counterparts in the years after loan allocation.

As nations in the Western Balkans opened up to private investment in the 1990s, newly created enterprises (mostly SMEs) fueled regional economic development by facilitating the transition from a massive state-owned structure to a market economy.

SMEs now account for 99% of all active businesses, up to 81% of total value created, and 72% of total employment in the Western Balkans.

The Western Balkans are mostly bank-based economies, with bank credit serving as the primary source of external capital for all enterprises, including SMEs. Despite this, the region's bank credit supply is limited and undeveloped. A recent EIB analysis (Akbas et al., 2023) estimated the funding deficit to be at USD 2.8 billion, or around 2.5% of nominal GDP.

While just 35% of enterprises require a loan, 45% of those in need are financial restricted SMEs. High interest rates, severe collateral requirements, and lengthy application procedures, in particular, dissuade SMEs from seeking for a loan.

Approximately 40% of enterprises in the Western Balkans are financially autarkic, with the proportion being significantly higher for small, young, and less sophisticated firms. 88% of them are deliberately autarkic, meaning they do not rely on any type of external finance. However, while most of these enterprises choose financial autarky voluntarily, it might be an organic reaction to a difficult operating environment.

In most Western Balkan markets, international banks have a market share of 70% to 90%. At the end of 2023, the macroeconomic environment in the Western Balkans indicates that risks are increasing, threatening to worsen the financial imbalance. Recent survey findings give conflicting data on enterprises' funding circumstances. While supply has fallen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and interest rate increasers, it has showed progressive recovery.

Financial intermediaries also expressed worry about credit quality degradation and an increase in non-performing loans, which might lead to a further decrease in credit supply. Borrower demand for credit has been stable and is likely to improve, driven mostly by working capital requirements and fixed investments.

Hidden champions, missed opportunities: Mid-caps’ crucial role in Europe’s economic transition

Medium-sized businesses (or mid-caps) play an important role in the European economy, accounting for a considerable part of employment and wealth production. According to a recent European Commission analysis, mid-cap companies (250-3000 people) make up about 17% of total employment and 21% of turnover in the EU27 business sector.

Micro firms (fewer than nine employees) employ 38% of the total workforce, while SMEs (excluding micro firms) with fewer than 250 employees account for 34.4%, and XL firms (with 3,000 or more employees) account for 10.1% of overall employment in EU business sectors. According to Eurostat SBS statistics, in 2021, tiny enterprises (0-9 workers) and SMEs (excluding micro firms) employ around 30% and 34.5% of the entire workforce in EU27 business sectors, respectively, while bigger firms (250+ employees) contribute for 36.4% of overall employment.

According to INSEE (2021), non-financial and non-agricultural medium-sized firms employed 3 million full-time equivalent employees (24.3% of the workforce), accounted for 27% of investment, 30% of turnover, and 26% of value added, despite accounting for only 1.6% of total firms in France.

Mid-cap companies emphasise investing in new goods or services (32% of XL firms and 28% of small and big mid-caps), which is greater than SMEs (23%).

High-growth businesses (HGF) are key drivers of growth, job creation, and innovation (Audretsch (2012) and Ács 2015).

According to EIBIS data, big mid-caps account for the greatest percentage of high-growth and very high-growth enterprises, at 7.5% and 3.1%, respectively, followed by SMEs at 6% and 2%. XLs and tiny mid-caps trail somewhat, accounting for 5.2-5.5% and 1.9-2.1% of high- and very-high-growth enterprises, respectively. Manufacturing businesses with big mid-caps and XL firms have the greatest percentage of extremely high-growth firms.

Medium-sized firms are ahead of SMEs in terms of digital technology adoption, with performance comparable to that of larger enterprises. Over 84% of XL businesses invested in at least one digital technology, compared to approximately 75% for mid-caps.

Only around 53% of small and medium-sized enterprises have deployed at least one of these sophisticated technologies.

Larger organisations were found more likely to invest in energy efficiency, green innovation, and change. There appears to be a significant rise in energy efficiency investments reported by SMEs and mid-cap companies.

The track record of mid-caps, as described above, makes them critical vectors for the rapid deployment of key net-zero technologies and infrastructure as the European Union faces the dual challenge of the green and digital transition, as well as competitive international pressures such as Made in China 2025 and the US Inflation Reduction Act.

Mid-caps may be particularly vulnerable to the global landscape since they are frequently highly internationalised. This is especially true in the industrial sector, where businesses are virtually as globalised as huge corporations.

In the manufacturing sector, 90% of small mid-caps and 85% of big mid-caps export, with manufacturing SMEs accounting for around 68%.

Mid-caps often finance more of their investments through intra-group fundraising (about 7%) than SMEs (less than 2%) or XL corporations (around 4%).

Mid-caps and SMEs have much less access to financial markets to issue bonds or stocks than XL companies. Despite being larger and more financed than SMEs, mid-caps sometimes lack the financial resources and creditworthiness of larger companies, making it difficult to issue bonds or equity in capital markets.

In Europe, just 1.5% and 4.3% of small and big mid-caps have issued new bonds, whereas 19% of XL corporations have.

Mid-caps are also less likely than SMEs and XL enterprises to get attractive external borrowing arrangements. From SMEs to small mid-caps, the chance of securing bank financing on concessional conditions, that is, loans with lower interest rates or longer grace periods, decreases dramatically.

On average, just 26% of small mid-cap companies report obtaining concessional bank loans, compared to nearly 35% of SMEs. Approximately 30% of big mid-caps claim access to concessional bank loans, greater than small mid-caps but lower than XL enterprises (37%).

tiny mid-caps and SMEs are less likely than XL enterprises to acquire external financing in the form of grants (14% each). The chance tends to rise for big mid-caps, reaching 18% for XL corporations.

Röhl (2018) and BDI (2018) compiled examples of size-dependent laws and requirements for R&D grants in Germany in order to advocate for lowering regulatory burdens and loosening size criteria for grants to mid-sized and larger enterprises.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was less extensive help provided to mid-caps than to SMEs and large enterprises. In response to COVID-19, 51% of major mid-caps in the European Union obtained financial assistance, compared to 60% for SMEs, small mid-caps, and 56% for the largest enterprises.

Mid-caps received the least amount of non-repayable subsidies (38% and 36% for small and big mid-caps, respectively), behind only SMEs (39%) and large enterprises (44%).

Among firms that received at least one type of support during the COVID-19 pandemic, only about 13% of large and small mid-caps reported receiving government support in response to COVID-19, compared to nearly 20% in SMEs and 15% in large firms. In 2022, mid-caps were less likely to get government funding for COVID-19 compared to SMEs and XL businesses.

Mid-caps, being comparably mature and internationalised enterprises, may be particularly sensitive to supply chain disruptions and economic shocks. While XL enterprises were the most hit by interruptions associated to COVID-19, mid-caps were more likely than both SMEs and XL firms to indicate negative consequences of supply chain disruptions related to the Russia-Ukraine war.

On average, 67% of small mid-caps and 63% of big mid-caps cited trade barriers connected to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with 54% of small and 54% of large mid-caps suffering obstacles caused by both COVID-19 and Ukraine.

The figures are lower for SMEs and XLs, with fewer than 60% reporting such trade impediments. Surprisingly, just 4% of XL enterprises reported trade difficulties caused only by the Russian-Ukraine war, but more than 32% indicated COVID-19-related concerns. This might reflect the fact that XLs are more integrated into global value chains over greater geographical areas (not just Europe) than mid-caps and SMEs.

Mid-cap firms tend to take less action against supply chain disruptions than larger corporations, instead diversifying their trading partners or focusing on domestic suppliers or markets. Reorienting or shortening supply chains takes extensive planning and coordination, including investments in storage and inventory management. This may be costly for SMEs and mid-caps compared to large firms.

Access to raw materials and compliance with new rules are shared issues among firms of all sizes. Surprisingly, more than 70% of big enterprises express anxiety about access to semiconductors and microchips. This is much greater than the amount of anxiety reported by big mid-caps (46%), small mid-caps (49%), and SMEs (42%).

Mid-caps are nearly twice as likely as SMEs to boost investment post-pandemic, but at a lower rate than large enterprises. Firms anticipating a rise in investment minus those expecting a decline post-pandemic have a net balance of 20% for small mid-caps and 26% for big mid-caps, while SMEs report just 10%.

Large mid-caps had the largest net balance of enterprises reporting underinvestment minus overinvestment, at 12%, followed by tiny mid-caps at roughly 11%.

This is 9.8% for small and medium-sized businesses and 10% for large corporations. Mid-caps may have reported larger investment barriers, contributing to the higher reported investment gaps.

Mid-caps are significantly involved in international commerce, in addition to being important participants in production, innovation, digitization, and climate change. It is not unexpected that mid-caps are more likely than SMEs and XL enterprises to cite negative repercussions of supply chain interruptions related to the Russia-Ukraine war, especially those in the industrial sector.

The European Commission's decision to reassess the present SME classification requirements and create a unified mid-caps definition marks a turning point.

EIB Investment Survey 2023 - CESEE overview

In Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, 18% of enterprises report having invested too little in the previous three years (2020 - 2023), with the highest rates in Lithuania (27%), Romania (24%), and Latvia (23%). Almost eight in ten enterprises in CESEE (78%) say they have invested appropriately during the previous three years. This is comparable to survey data from 2022 (77%) but lower than the current EU average of 82%.

Sixty-four percent of (firm) respondents to a survey on investment were concerned about energy prices, while 46% were concerned about regulatory frameworks and pricing instability. CESEE firms reported a higher rate of energy consumption increases of 25% or more than the EU average (77% vs. 68%).

In response to the energy shock, 95% of firms in CESEE and the EU implemented at least one of the strategies or goals surveyed. Energy savings and efficiency were the most often suggested method (79%), which is consistent with the EU average. CESEE firms were more likely than those in the EU to suspend or reduce production of certain items or services (30% vs. 24%), but less likely to renegotiate their energy contracts (62% vs. 67%).

Although many enterprises in the CESEE region experienced international trade interruptions, just 52% modified or plan to modify their sourcing strategy. This aligns with the EU as a whole.

CESEE firms are more likely than the EU to invest in digital inventory and input tracking (27% vs. 20%), but less likely to grow inventories and inventory (25% vs. 31%).

Importers in CESEE are less likely to decrease their percentage of imported products or services (9% vs. 10%), but more likely to diversify or expand their import sources (32% vs. 24%).

Climate change is increasingly being acknowledged as a fact by CESEE businesses. Weather events have had an influence on 59% of businesses, up from 51% in EIBIS 2022, but still lower than the EU average. In CESEE, 39% of enterprises have taken efforts to improve resilience against such risks, which is consistent with EU average.

Firms in CESEE mostly purchased insurance to mitigate climate-related losses (21%, more than the EU average). In CESEE, the Czech Republic had the largest percentage of enterprises taking at least one measure (52%), while Hungary had the lowest at 20%.

In CESEE, enterprises consider the transition to tougher climate norms and regulations as a danger twice as often as an opportunity (38% vs. 18%).

33% of EU enterprises consider it a danger, while 29% see it as an opportunity. In CESEE, enterprises in Lithuania and Slovakia are more likely to regard the transition as a risk (47% and 46%, respectively), while Croatia and Estonia see it as an opportunity (26% and 23%, respectively).

91% of CESEE enterprises are reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but only 35% establish and monitor objectives, which is lower than the EU average. CESEE enterprises prioritise waste minimization and recycling (74%), with energy efficiency expenditures (60%).

54% of CESEE enterprises have already invested in climate change initiatives, with 56% planning to do so over the next three years. These numbers are consistent across the EU.

Approximately two-thirds (65%) of enterprises in CESEE have employed one or more sophisticated digital technologies, somewhat lower than the EU average (70%). The most often employed digital technologies at CESEE are the Internet of Things (45%), robots (45%), and digital platforms (37%).

EIB INVESTMENT SURVEY 2023 - Netherlands

In 2022, 93% of Dutch enterprises invested, equal to the 90% indicated in EIBIS 2022 for 2021, and higher than the EU average of 85%.

In April-July 2023, enterprises have a favourable outlook, with 17% planning to grow rather than cut investment. This is consistent with EIBIS 2022 (22%), and the present EU average (14%).

In the Netherlands, 91% of enterprises say they have invested appropriately during the past three years (2023 - 2020). This beats the EU average at 82%.

Over the next three years, Dutch enterprises plan to emphasise investment in replacement (46%), capacity growth (27%), and new goods and services (19%).

Compared to other enterprises in the EU, Dutch firms prioritise new goods or services (26% vs. 34% for replacement). In keeping with the EU average of 10%, just 7% of enterprises in the Netherlands do not plan to invest.

Dutch companies were hurt by the energy crisis, albeit to a lower extent than those elsewhere in the EU. While most companies are concerned about energy prices, just 30% consider it a critical issue. This is half of the EU average (59%).

A minority of Dutch enterprises (40%) are concerned about energy supplies, while just 12% are really concerned.

In reaction to recent energy shocks, 96% of Dutch firms adjusted their strategy, with 68% aiming to save energy or improve efficiency.

59% of enterprises have contemplated passing on rising energy prices to their consumers. Only 15% of Dutch enterprises prioritise pausing or lowering output.

Dutch enterprises were less likely than other EU firms to prioritise energy savings (68% vs. 78%), renegotiating energy contracts (43% vs. 67%), or suspending or lowering output (15% vs. 24%) in response to energy market movements.

In The Netherlands, 95% of enterprises experienced disruptions in international trade, with access to commodities or raw materials and interrupted logistics and transportation being the most significant hurdles (52% each).

Restricted access to semiconductors or microchips harmed just 32% of Dutch enterprises.

Dutch enterprises were also less affected by particular characteristics than other European firms. However, they are more likely to respond by modifying their sourcing strategy (61% vs. 49%).

Firms in The Netherlands, like their colleagues throughout the EU, are equally inclined to invest in increasing stocks and inventory (34% vs. 31%) and computerised inventory and inputs tracking (24% vs. 20%).

Dutch importers, like those throughout the EU, are equally inclined to cut their proportion of imported products or services (12% vs. 10%) or diversify their imports (26% vs. 24%).

Climate related

In the Netherlands, 61% of businesses indicate that weather occurrences have an influence on their operations due to climate change.

In the Netherlands, over half of enterprises (47%) have created or invested in resilience strategies to physical hazards from climate change. This is above the EU average (36%).

Dutch enterprises choose to create or invest in risk-avoidance solutions (27%), rather than buying insurance to offset losses (17%) or adapting their strategy for physical hazards (12%).

Dutch enterprises are more likely than other EU firms to explore ways to limit exposure to physical risks (27% vs. 20%).

Dutch companies are more likely to see the transition to stronger climate laws as an opportunity (39% vs 23%).

The proportion that considers it a risk is lower than the EU average (33%). In the Netherlands, 98% of enterprises are reducing greenhouse gas emissions, beating the EU average of 89%. However, only 48% of Dutch firms set and monitor their own emission targets.

Dutch enterprises mostly cut emissions through waste reduction or recycling (86%), as well as energy efficiency programmes (76%).

Dutch enterprises are more likely than EU peers to take particular initiatives, except for renewable energy generation (43% vs. 41%).

The largest 'lead' is in trash reduction or recycling (86% against 67%).

In the Netherlands, 78% of enterprises have invested in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the impact of weather disasters. Six out of ten (60%) plan to invest in these areas during the next three years. The numbers for 'already invested' and 'intend to invest' above the EU average (56% and 54%, respectively).

In 2022, 56% of Dutch enterprises created new goods, processes, or services as part of their investment activities.

One in ten Dutch enterprises (13%) brought new goods, processes, or services to the Dutch or global market.

Almost eight out of ten Dutch companies (78%) employed at least one modern digital technology. This beats the EU average of 70%. The majority of Dutch enterprises utilise digital platform technologies (59%), robots (56%), and the Internet of Things (55%), whereas just a small percentage use 3D printing (19%) or augmented/VR technology (15%).

Dutch enterprises face significant long-term hurdles to investment, including a lack of trained people (71%), and high energy prices (66%). Barriers are diminishing, with numbers lower than the EU average and EIBIS 2022. For example, the availability of funding is less of an impediment than across the EU (23% versus 44%).

The proportion of financially limited Dutch enterprises (4.9%) is consistent with the survey's historical average.

The present share falls below the EU average of 6.1%. Although 9% of Dutch enterprises are dissatisfied with external financing costs, this is lower than the EU average of 14%. Overall, dissatisfaction levels with loan amount, collateral, term, and type are comparable.

Key findings

Real investment is up 5% from before the COVID-19 crisis. It was down 11% at the same time following the global financial crisis.

70% of EU enterprises use innovative digital technology, reducing the gap with the US.

90% of EU enterprises have made steps to decrease their carbon footprint. However, just 36% have made actions to adapt to climate change.

In 2023, 80% of EU enterprises were profitable, which is two percentage points more than the historical average.

enterprises with profits of at least 10% of turnover were 8 percentage points more likely to increase investment than enterprises that broke even.

EU enterprises embraced modern digital technology, and in recent years, they have closed an 11-point deficit with the United States in their usage of those technologies.

In 2023, 51% of EU enterprises polled invested in energy efficiency.

Responding to supply interruptions, 20% of EU enterprises invested in digital inventory management systems, while 24% of importers diversified their supply chains.

While business investment is high across the European Union, there are significant variances across EU nations. In some nations, real corporate investment increased by 5% or more in early 2023 compared to pre-pandemic levels, while in others it stalled.

An EIB review of previous instances of government belt-tightening for 16 countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development indicated that fiscal consolidation of 1% of GDP results in a 1% drop in private investment.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility, which offers €723 billion to modernise the EU economy and assist the green and digital transition, might give investment protection.

70% of EU enterprises expect energy prices to rise by more than a quarter in 2023, compared to only 30% of US firms.

European enterprises account for 18% of the world's top 2 500 R&D corporations, but just 10% of new entrants, compared to 45% in the United States and 32% in China.

The European Union still holds the most patents for green technology, but China has been catching up. China and the United States have already issued twice as many patents for digital technology.

European businesses are underperforming in their adoption of new technology. According to the EIBIS, the European Union has a smaller percentage of enterprises investing in developing or introducing new goods, processes, or services than the United States (39% vs. 57%). This disparity is mostly caused by the amount of businesses that invest in adopting goods, processes, or services that are already common in their sector but are new to the organisation.

Europe in particular suffers from a lack of funding for more mature scale-up operations. Financing for these operations is six to eight times higher in the United States (in dollars).

Key findings (publication)

Productive investment, excluding housing, has been increasing as a percentage of GDP in Europe as of 2023. There remains a gap of around 1.5 percentage points in productive investment between Europe and the United States, but this growth has helped Europe keep up with the rate of productive investment growth in the United States to a certain extent. Although Europe is not falling further behind like during the sovereign debt crisis, European firms state narrowing this gap as a priority.

Households played a significant role in driving investment recovery starting from the fourth quarter of 2020. But events such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an energy shock, inflation, and rising interest rates halted household investment in mid-2022. Following that, the corporate sector, supported by public assistance and robust demand, became the primary driver of investment growth, taking over from households.

In 2023, 80% of EU firms were profitable, which was 2 percentage points higher than the historical average. Firms that achieved profits of at least 10% of their turnover were 8% more likely to increase their investment compared to firms that only broke even. Policy support and financial reserves have played a crucial role in protecting and maintaining corporate investment. Despite the energy crisis that started in 2022, firms were able to meet their investment expectations, thanks to the support and buffers in place.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, European enterprises have increased their usage of innovative digital technology, decreasing the 11 percentage point gap with the United States.

Corporate investment among EU countries varies significantly due to distinct national factors. The sectoral breakdown of aggregate investment is not yet accessible for all EU members, even for early 2023. In some European nations, real corporate investment increased by 5% or more by early 2023, while in others it remained stagnant or far lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Between January 2022 and October 2023, the interest rates on government bonds increased by about 3%. The difference in interest rates between safer and riskier bonds did not widen significantly. This situation has been favorable for public investment.

In 2024, the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact, which allowed for flexibility in fiscal rules, will likely be deactivated. This means that there may be a need for further fiscal consolidation or measures to reduce budget deficits. Historical data from 16 OECD countries suggest that such fiscal retrenchment often has a disproportionate and long-lasting impact on public investment. In other words, when governments need to cut spending, public investment tends to be significantly affected and its recovery may take a long time.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility might provide a temporary buffer for public investment, but its execution is already hampered, with the difference between planned and completed payments expected to reach EUR 127 billion by the third quarter of 2023. Measures involving infrastructure investment are the most likely to be postponed.

Energy prices continue to be a key issue for EU enterprises, with many citing it as a factor for potential investment cuts. Energy prices increased by more than a quarter for 70% of EU enterprises, whereas just 30% of US firms experienced this. Even if the energy shock is less severe, it would take over a decade for energy costs to stabilise at low levels. European enterprises will need to find strategies to stay competitive until then. In Europe, companies face significant challenges due to a shortage of skilled workers.

European enterprises make up 18% of the top 2 500 R&D corporations globally, but just 10% of new entrants, compared to 45% in the US and 32% in China.

According to the EIB Investment Survey (EIBIS), the European Union has a lower share of firms investing in developing or introducing new products, processes, or services compared to the United States (39% vs. 57%), with the gap remaining stable at around 18 percentage points over the last two years.

Tighter financial conditions have harmed venture capital funding in the European Union, which remains undeveloped in comparison to the United States.

EIB Gender equality and women’s economic empowerment OVERVIEW

In 2023, the Bank supported 63 projects that made major contributions to gender equality and women's economic empowerment throughout the world, investing €5.8 billion, including €3.4 billion in the European Union and €2.4 billion elsewhere. EIB Global, the Bank's development arm, committed 39.3% of its overall activities to gender equality in 2023.

According to the World Bank Group's 2021 FINDEX database, there is a $1.7 trillion funding gap for formal, women-owned micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, over 68% of small women-owned firms lack access to finance.

In 2023, the EIB financed 31 projects worth €650.8 million dedicated to women entrepreneurs, women-led companies, and businesses supporting job opportunities and providing services to women through local banks, microfinance institutions, and private equity funds in accordance with the 2X Challenge criteria, beyond the European Union.

Acting to promote gender equality might contribute $13 trillion to the global GDP by 2030. According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, improving gender equality in the EU might result in a 9.6% rise in EU GDP per capita, or €3.15 trillion, as well as an additional 10.5 million employment by 2050. This would help both genders.

The World Economic Forum estimates that closing the gender gap in economic participation and opportunity will take 169 years at present advancement rates.

In 2023, the Bank invested €5.8 billion on 63 initiatives to promote gender equality and women's economic empowerment worldwide. This included €3.4 billion in the European Union and €2.4 billion elsewhere. In 2023, EIB Global, the Bank's development arm, dedicated 39.3% of its activities to promoting gender equality.

In 2023, the EIB funded 31 projects totaling €650.8 million for women entrepreneurs, women-led companies, and businesses that provide job opportunities and services to women through local banks, microfinance institutions, and private equity funds. These projects met the 2X Challenge criteria and extended beyond the EU.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, only 51% of Tunisian women have access to official financial institutions. Additionally, micro and small businesses have significant hurdles in acquiring money.

Businesses with gender-diverse boards are 60% more likely to minimise energy usage and 40% more likely to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Women and men experience climate change and environmental degradation differently according to gender roles and societal conventions.

In February 2024, the EIB Group established the Women Climate Leaders Network, bringing together 47 women leaders from the commercial sector from all 27 EU Member States, to collaborate on innovative business models and strategies to facilitate the low-carbon and green transition.

In 2023, 37 projects, or 59% of the EIB's funding for gender equality, supported climate action and environmental sustainability.

Energy poverty has a disproportionate impact on women. Without access to other energy sources, 13% of the global population is compelled to collect wood for fuel. Out of the population, women and girls contribute to more than 85% of the work involved in gathering wood for fuel.

The EIB invested €74.8 million in the Mirova Gigaton Fund, a $500 million loan fund for small and medium-sized firms that create and deliver renewable energy in emerging areas.

The Mirova Gigaton Fund's personnel is predominantly female, and women lead its investments, operations, advising, and legal services. The fund, which qualified for the 2X Challenge, will expand energy access for women and low-income households by investing in solar home systems, as well as off-grid and mini-grid systems. The fund uses gender criteria in its portfolio company screening and monitoring to guarantee that the firms provide excellent jobs for women and that their goods benefit women directly. At least 30% of firms will meet the 2X Challenge requirements.

Women make up fewer than 5% of mayors and only approximately 21% of top positions in prominent architecture companies.

Women continue to bear a disproportionate share of care duties in the home and community, limiting their labour market participation. For example, in the European Union, twice as many women as men spend more than five hours every day caring for children. Investing in care infrastructure is essential for gender equality.

In 2023, the EIB invested €25 million in Barcelona's rolling stock and signed an advisory service agreement with Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) to improve transport security against harassment.

Gewobag, a Berlin housing developer, proposes to create around 2,165 additional flats by 2026 using €300 million in EIB finance. The state-owned corporation will utilise the funding to establish 350 daycare and assisted living facilities for around 210 elderly individuals. These climate-friendly initiatives aim to address Berlin's affordable housing scarcity, promote social inclusion, and foster intergenerational cohabitation.

Climate change has taken a heavy toll on the bioeconomy. Extreme weather occurrences, such as floods and droughts, are increasing economic losses in the agriculture industry, which are projected to be worth $123 billion annually. Women in the business are frequently disproportionately affected as a result of pre-existing gender disparities in asset ownership, access to knowledge, labour availability, and financial and market access. Globally, 36% of women in agriculture have less access to funding than males.

Improving women's access to agricultural resources can boost yields by 20-30% and overall production in underdeveloped nations by 2.5-4%. Increased production might reduce global hunger by 12-17%.

In 2023, the EIB, with the cooperation of the European Commission, will allocate €10 million to female African entrepreneurs and firms that provide services or generate excellent jobs for women in the bioeconomy. This is accomplished through loan lines with Compagnie Financière Africaine COFINA in Côte d'Ivoire (focused on cocoa, cashews, and food crops), Senegal (for cereals and horticulture), and First Capital Bank Limited in Zambia to boost sustainable agricultural output.

EIB energy overview 2024

In support of REPowerEU's aims, the EIB Board of Directors decided to contribute €5 billion in December 2023 to improve the provision of commercial bank guarantees for firms that supply wind power components. The funds are estimated to support up to €80 billion in wind power investment, resulting in a 32 GW increase in new installed capacity.

EIB energy loans climbed to €21.3 billion in 2023, up from €11.6 billion in 2020. This funding supports energy efficiency, renewable energy, innovation, storage, and new energy network infrastructure.

The EIB is sponsoring the growth of 3Sun's gigafactory to 3 GW by 2024, making it Europe's largest solar factory.

In addition to producing enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of one million households per year, the gigafactory is intended to contribute to Sicily's economic growth by providing jobs and indirect employment. The project is in line with the EIB's wider REPowerEU aim to contribute to the European Union's target of producing approximately 600 GW of solar energy by 2030, while lowering dependency on gas imports and diversifying away from imported solar components.

The EIB, the European Commission, and Breakthrough Energy, launched by Bill Gates in 2015, have collaborated to build large-scale green tech initiatives in Europe and encourage investment in crucial climate technologies.

The EIB has secured a €75 million loan with Teplárny Brno to modernise the heat generating and distribution infrastructure in Brno, the Czech Republic's second largest city. The initiative will lower pollution and the country's reliance on petrol imports. It comprises the development of a wood chip-fueled combined heat and power biomass unit, which will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

The EIB and Iberdrola have inked a €1 billion financing arrangement to develop 19 solar power plants and three onshore wind farms in Spain, Portugal, and Germany, accelerating Europe's energy revolution. 70% of the plants will be built in rural areas impacted by the transition to net-zero and cohesion zones. The projects will generate enough green energy to power over 1 million households on average each year.

EIB activity in the Western Balkans

The Bank has also signed the Declaration on the Just Transition Investment Platform for North Macedonia. This platform intends to mobilise up to €3 billion in investments, policies, and technical support to expedite the country's deployment of 1.7 gigawatts of additional renewable energy capacity by 2030.

In 2023, the EIB received the Uxolo Award for its social-impact loan line. This project is acknowledged as an innovative financial instrument that promotes youth employment, gender equality, and inclusive behaviours.

Together with the European Investment Fund, the European Union's principal supplier of risk financing for SMEs and mid-caps, the EIB has invested more than €6 billion in the region's private sector, accounting for about 40% of its total lending to date.

The study on the impact of the EIB's intermediated financing to enterprises in the Western Balkans found that SMEs improved significantly. Total assets rose by 20%, fixed assets by 35% and employment by 15%, which amounts to about 15 more jobs for every €1 million in EIB loans granted.

EIB financing helped create the BioSense Institute facility in Serbia, which opened in 2023 with modern research and commercial facilities spanning roughly 7,000 m2.

With €76 million in funds from the WBIF programme, funding will be available for the building of a wastewater treatment facility in North Macedonia, which will serve about 500 000 people in Skopje. The funding will also help 20 communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have access to drinking water and sanitary services.

Clean oceans and the blue economy Overview 2024

Since 2014, the UN Ocean Conference and Our Ocean Conference have gathered over 2,160 financial and other quantifiable pledges, mobilising more than $130 billion.

Between 2019 and 2023, EIB loans to the sustainable blue economy totaled €7.3 billion, resulting in €30.8 billion in investments.

The EIB has been investing in offshore renewable energy, co-financing around 40% of all capacity in Europe and bridging the funding gap for the industry. Since 2003, the Bank has sponsored 34 offshore wind projects in Europe, including facilities in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, totaling more over €10 billion in loans. The EIB funded €3.7 billion in maritime renewable energy between 2019 and 2023.

The Portuguese business Windplus financed WindFloat Atlantic with a €60 million loan from the EIB's InnovFin Energy Demonstration Projects initiative, supported by the European Commission. InnovFin is a joint EIB-European Commission initiative that offers funding and advising services for innovative solutions.

Between 2019 and 2023, the Bank invested €224 million on green marine transport, including building new ships and renovating current ones with green technology to enhance energy efficiency and reduce emissions.

The Bank supports port infrastructure that promotes sustainability and reduces global transport emissions. This includes measures to mitigate pollution from moored ships, such as shore-side electricity and ship garbage receiving facilities. The EIB funded €1.2 billion in ports between 2019 and 2023.

Between 2019 and 2023, the EIB funded €91 million in coastline conservation.

Between 2019 and 2023, the EIB funded €366 million on ocean-related R&D and innovation. These investments have mostly helped traditional blue economy businesses such as fishing and shipping move to more sustainable operating techniques.

The EIB supports ocean monitoring technology, including marine robots and research boats, as well as sustainable fish production through recirculating aquaculture systems. Marine robotic systems can monitor important infrastructure such as undersea pipelines and telecom cables, as well as assist the development of offshore energy farms and ports.

Between 2019 and 2023, the Bank gave over €1 billion to assist manage wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste, therefore reducing pollutants pouring into the ocean. It spent €229 million on sustainable seafood production in the European Union, covering fisheries, aquaculture, and processing and preservation.

In January 2021, the EIB and Asian Development Bank launched the Clean and Sustainable Ocean Partnership to promote a clean and sustainable ocean and blue economy in Asia-Pacific. The institutions pledged to collaborate and fund initiatives to minimise land-based plastic pollution, increase ocean-related economic sustainability, and use ocean-based resources.

Portugal Blue is a collaboration formed in October 2020 by the EIB Group, Banco Português de Fomento, and the Portuguese government (via Fundo Azul) to boost investment in the blue economy, promote climate action, and support UN Sustainable Development Goals. The cooperation seeks to raise approximately €80 million in finance from public and institutional investors via venture capital and private equity funds managed by Portugal-based professionals. Portugal Blue has chosen two specialist blue economy funds that provide a high emphasis on ocean sustainability and climate action: Faber Blue Pioneers Fund and Growth Blue Fund.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles, developed collaboratively by the EIB, the European Commission, WWF for Nature, and the World Resources Institute, lead investors through a groundbreaking global investment framework for the sustainable use of ocean resources.

Since 2019, the ideas have been incorporated into the UN Environment Programme's Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative. Over 70 public and private businesses have joined the project, totaling $11 trillion in assets. In 2021, they promised to publicly report on their progress towards applying the initiative's governing principles.

In May 2021, the European Commission announced a comprehensive plan for a sustainable blue economy, including a mission to restore our oceans and waters to support the European Green Deal goals. The Commission and EIB Group want to collaborate with Member States to minimise pollution in European oceans and stimulate investment in blue innovation and the bioeconomy.

The Clean Oceans Initiative, established in 2018 by the EIB, KfW Group, and Agence Française de Développement, aims to provide €4 billion in financing by 2025 to public and private sectors for projects reducing plastic discharge into the ocean.

In 2020, the Italian Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the Spanish Instituto de Credito Oficial joined the Clean Oceans Initiative, which was followed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 2022.

As of December 2023, the Clean Oceans Initiative had funded almost €3.2 billion, exceeding 80% of its €4 billion objective. Over 20 million people will benefit from the signed project proposals, which include better wastewater treatment in Sri Lanka, China, Egypt, and South Africa, solid waste management in Togo and Senegal, and stormwater management and flood protection in Benin, Morocco, and Ecuador.

Adaptation to climate change

The Climate Adaptation Investment Advisory Platform (ADAPT) of the European Union helps the public and commercial sectors plan and invest in climate adaptation and resilience efforts.

Circular economy Overview 2024

The European Union generates around 2 billion tonnes of garbage annually, equivalent to 4.8 tonnes per person, mostly from building, mining, and industry.

On average, each European generates half a tonne of municipal garbage every year, with less than half recycled. This trash has a detrimental impact on the environment, biodiversity, and health and is expensive to control. It also demonstrates how inefficiently humans use the Earth's precious resources.

Every year, the global population uses approximately 100 billion tonnes of materials, with more than 90% of them being wasted. The circular economy seeks to address this by eliminating waste entirely.

From 2019 to 2023, the EIB funded €3.83 billion to co-finance 132 circular economy initiatives across many industries. We are ready to accomplish more. Circular economy initiatives with a higher risk profile have secured finance through our risk-sharing instruments and benefit from EU guarantees.

The European Green Deal aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Accelerating the transition to a circular economy is one of the Green Deal's main cornerstones.

The European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan has resulted in a wide range of projects, with an emphasis on waste and material sustainability, as well as the circularity of consumer items. Despite a huge number of EU legislative measures, the European Union's circularity rate was 11.5% in 2022 and is slowing.

Products, manufacturing, and food production account for around 45% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Applying circular economy tactics in only five important categories (cement, aluminium, steel, plastics, and food) may reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from goods manufacturing by nearly half – 9.3 billion tonnes of CO2e — by 2050.

Circular economy initiatives can prevent global biodiversity loss and restore it to 2000 levels by 2035. A circular economy reduces pollution in air, water, and soil, protecting human health.

The International Labour Organisation predicts that shifting to a circular economy may boost global employment by 7-8 million jobs by 2030.

Currently, less than 10% of global economic activity is circular.

PackBenefit is a Spanish business that produces high-performance fiber-based food bio-packaging, has inked a €13 million venture loan arrangement with the EIB to fund a new production line and research and development initiatives for sustainable food packaging solutions. PackBenefit will use the funding to develop its production capacity for recyclable and biodegradable food trays in the European market.

Elval, a part of Greek copper and aluminium company ElvalHalcor, is investing in cutting-edge technology to boost recycling capacity and produce recyclable aluminium packaging. The EIB will fund the project with a €75 million loan over ten years.

Renewi, a leading European waste-to-product company, is building two new waste sorting facilities with a €40 million loan from the EIB. One is in Belgium to comply with the Flemish waste regulation (Vlarema 8), while the other is in the Netherlands to recycle plastic and expired food waste into petrol. These initiatives will allow the extraction of high-quality secondary raw materials.

Cement production accounts for 2.4% of worldwide CO2 emissions from industrial and energy sources.

Four Belgian firms are collaborating to create a novel masonry block using carbon dioxide collected from other industrial processes. The device has the potential to impact global business and combat global warming.

Sustainable innovation

In the European Union, the European Investment Bank provides direct loans, such as a €1 billion contract to help Berlin's public water business improve water delivery and wastewater collection.

Beyond the European Union, the European Investment Bank has started to utilise two new financial products: sector-based finance, such as a large investment in Jordan for desalination, and debt for nature or climate swaps, which, for example, enable Barbados to invest over $200 million in affordable homes, hurricane-resistant roofs, and green transportation.

The European Union invests €90 billion annually to improve water supplies and prevent wasteful leaks.

spends €60 billion annually on urban wastewater treatment.

Flood-related economic losses are estimated at €6 billion to €12 billion annually.

To address housing issues, the EIB Group has spent €12 billion in social housing over the last decade. The Bank invests in improving living circumstances and cities, in addition to housing. We also collaborate closely with the Committee of the Regions and a diverse range of municipal and regional governments to promote social housing.

Over the previous five years, we have funded over 50 social housing projects in 11 EU nations.

In Poznan, €34 million for the development of 1,300 affordable housing units.

In Spain, the EIB secured financing for energy-efficient and affordable homes in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Malaga, and Navarra. In 2023, we negotiated a €120 million loan with the Castilla y León area to finance 1,100 affordable rental homes.

In Lithuania, the EIB helped restore several thousand flat buildings, decreasing heating expenditures by 50 to 70 percent.

€120 million public-private partnership agreement to create over 500 affordable housing units in Ireland.

In Europe, there is a significant shortage of investment in social housing and a pressing need to renovate existing units. Annual investment in housing is predicted at €57 billion for new building and energy-efficiency modifications. The projections do not include the refugee situation caused by the war in Ukraine.

Financing and commercialisation of cleantech innovation

There are presently more than 750 000 international patent families (IPFs) in clean and sustainable technology globally, accounting for roughly 12% of all IPFs.

There are two major stages of acceleration in cleantech patenting: 2006-2012, driven mostly by the EU and Japan, accounting for 27% and 26% of the overall rise in IPFs, respectively; and 2017-2021, led by China (which accounts for 70% of the spike in IPF applications during this time), followed by the EU (16%).

The EU and other European countries are driving the wave of green innovation, accounting for over 27% of cleantech IPFs globally from 2017 to 2021, ahead of Japan (21%), the United States (20%), and China (15%). China's swift catch-up emphasises its increasing importance in the global sustainability movement, demonstrating a dynamic competitive environment in cleantech.

The United States, known for its work in advanced digital technologies (as noted in the EPO-EIB 2022 report), has introduced the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022 to support cleantech.

Over 30% of EU companies identify a lack of financing as a major obstacle to commercializing clean and sustainable technologies.

A significant funding gap exists between large and small cleantech companies in the EU. Whereas only a small fraction (12%) of major corporations in the region cite access to financing as a hindrance, the issue is far more pronounced for micro-enterprises and SMEs. In fact, nearly half (43%) of these smaller firms struggle to secure the necessary capital, suggesting the funding challenges faced by this business segment are notably more severe compared to the typical EU small and medium-sized company.

A majority (61%) of EU-based cleantech innovators view the broader EU market as their primary target for growth, even though 29% of companies currently prioritize their domestic national markets.

Whereas 43% and 55% of medium and large EU companies respectively cite consistent regulation as the key driver for boosting commercialization, small businesses mention access to financing as their top priority when bringing new technologies to market.

The Unitary Patent has been introduced, allowing for cost-efficient and standardized patent protection across 17 EU Member States. This aims to address European cleantech innovators, technology commercialization and IP-based financing on a pan-European scale.

The United States, known for its work in advanced digital technologies (as noted in the EPO-EIB 2022 report), has introduced the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022 to support cleantech.

From 1997 to 2021, over 750,000 patents for clean and sustainable technologies were published, making up almost 15% of all patents in 2021, compared to just under 8% in 1997.

Annual filings of clean technology patents leveled off at around 40,000 between 2012 and 2016, then saw a resurgence from 2017 with a 6.2% annual growth rate, doubling the overall patent growth rate.

Nearly 244,000 patents were filed in the last five years, showing increased focus on sustainability. In 2021 alone, there were almost 55,000 clean technology patents, up 33% from five years earlier.

More than 43,000 patents were filed for clean manufacturing technologies from 2017 to 2021, with over 9,500 filed in 2021 alone.

Buildings, ICT, and climate change adaptation technologies each had around 18,000 patents from 2017 to 2021. Buildings saw stagnation, ICT grew at 15% annually, and climate change adaptation technologies also grew strongly.

Sectors with fewer than 10,000 patents between 2017 and 2021 include hydrogen technologies, wastewater treatment, waste management, smart grids, and carbon capture.

Europe contributed nearly 52,000 patents from 2017 to 2021, making up 22% of all clean technology patents.

Annual patents from EU applicants rose from just over 9,000 in 2016 to more than 11,000 in 2021.

The RTA index measures a country’s specialization in clean technology. An RTA above 1 indicates a strong focus. The EU had an RTA of 1.1 from 2017 to 2021.

Germany leads Europe with 37% of patents, followed by France (14.5%) and the UK (8.5%).

Japan and the US each account for over 20% of clean technology patents, though their annual numbers have stabilized at around 10,000.

China’s clean technology patents surged from just over 4,000 in 2017 to more than 12,000 in 2021, surpassing the EU’s total that year.

South Korea, with 10% of clean technology patents, showed the highest specialization from 2017-2021, though its RTA has decreased since 2018. Annual patents grew from over 4,000 in 2017 to over 5,000 in 2021.

Fast-growing areas include wastewater treatment and hydrogen technologies. The EU has recovered in low-carbon energy innovation, the largest clean tech field.

US leads in carbon capture technologies, with nearly 30% of patents. It also leads in plastic recycling and climate change adaptation technologies, but has a lower share in low-carbon energy (13%).

Japan excels in hydrogen-related (29.3%) and low-carbon energy technologies (26.2%).

Chinese applicants lead in ICT-related clean technologies, holding over 37% of patents from 2017 to 2021, while South Korean applicants contribute significantly in ICT (12.6%), hydrogen (13%), and low-carbon energy (15.5%).

Korean applicants contribute significantly in ICT (12.6%), hydrogen (13.0%), and low-carbon energy (15.5%), but less in wastewater treatment (5.2%).

LG leads among Korean companies with over 6,000 patents in clean technologies, focusing on low-carbon energy. Samsung follows with over 4,000 patents, and Toyota is the top Japanese company in transportation technologies. Robert Bosch is the leading European company in transportation and low-carbon energy.

The global transport sector emits about 7.3 billion tonnes of CO2 annually, 20% of the total. Medium-to-heavy lorries and aviation account for 30% of these emissions.

Neste uses its NEXBTL platform to convert renewable fats and oils into sustainable products.

About half of the EU’s clean technologies are in the launch or early revenue stage, 22% are in the scale-up stage, and 10% are mature or consolidating.

Post-COVID recovery and green transition

The Construction and Digital sectors are heavily impacted by the shortage of skilled labor, with 73% and 71% of businesses, respectively, reporting this issue. This marks an increase of nearly 30 percentage points from 2021 for both sectors.

The Agrifood sector reports the least difficulty in finding skilled workers, with 51% of firms affected. However, this sector also saw a significant rise of almost 30 percentage points in this issue compared to the previous year.

The Digital and Electronics sectors have the lowest proportion of firms identifying energy costs as a major investment hurdle, and along with Aerospace, they experienced the smallest rise in this concern since 2021. On the other hand, investment decisions in Textiles and Energy-Intensive Industries are particularly hampered by uncertainty, affecting 63% and 52% of firms, respectively.

In Energy-Intensive Industries, 71% of firms cite energy costs as a significant barrier to investment, affecting their competitive edge.

The Electronics and Digital sectors prioritize innovation, demonstrated by their past and future investments. Last year, 59% of Electronics firms and 45% of Digital firms invested in new products, processes, or services. These sectors are also more likely to prioritize innovation in their upcoming investments over the next three years compared to other sectors.

Firms in Textiles (35%), Energy-Intensive Industries (33%), and Aerospace (30%) also plan to focus on innovation in the next three years. Conversely, only 14% of firms in Construction consider innovation a priority for their future investments.

In the past year, 59% of Electronics firms introduced or developed new products, processes, or services, compared to 46% in Aerospace and 45% in both Energy-Renewables and Digital. This is significantly higher than the 21% of Construction firms that invested in innovation.

Electronics leads in R&D investment, with 28% of its total investment dedicated to research and development. This is followed by Textiles (19%), Digital (18%), and Aerospace (15%). Other sectors allocate less than 10% of their total investment to R&D.

About one-third of firms consider innovation a key investment priority for the next three years. This varies by sector: 48% of Electronics firms and 43% of Digital firms prioritize innovation, compared to only 14% in Construction, where firms focus more on replacing capacity.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digitalization efforts. A significant portion of firms in Electronics (69%), Energy-Intensive Industries (62%), and Energy-Renewables (60%) invested in digitalization in response to the pandemic. In contrast, only 40% of firms in Agrifood and Textiles did so.

The sectors receiving the most support were Textiles and Electronics, with 73% of firms in each receiving aid. The sectors with the least support were Energy-Renewables (52%), Digital (50%), and Agrifood (48%). Support measures included subsidies (41% of firms), subsidized or guaranteed credit (18%), deferred payments (18%), and other forms of aid (7%). The Textiles sector had the highest proportion of firms receiving subsidies and credit, while deferred payments were particularly important for 25% of Electronics firms.

All sectors received support during the COVID-19 crisis, primarily through subsidies. In 2022, Energy-Intensive Industries had the highest share of firms (22%) still receiving support.

Energy-Intensive Industries and Energy-Renewables saw the strongest recovery, with sales increasing by 76% and 72%, respectively, from 2020 to 2021. Other sectors also experienced significant turnover growth post-COVID-19.

The Electronics sector was hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis due to semiconductor shortages, while the Construction sector was most directly impacted by the war in Ukraine.

The Digital sector was the least affected by trade disruptions from COVID-19 and the Ukraine war, with only 23% of firms reporting significant impacts.

Financing sustainable liquid fuel projects in Europe: Identifying barriers and overcoming them

The sustainability of biofuels varies depending on the type of feedstock used. These fuels are typically categorized into crop-based fuels (derived from sugar or oil crops), advanced biofuels (from sources like lignocellulose and algae), and waste-based fuels (such as used cooking oils and animal fats).

Currently, the most cost-effective and technologically advanced method for producing biofuels is transesterification, or fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), which primarily uses crop-derived feedstocks. However, these crops compete with food crops for land and water, leading to negative impacts on biodiversity and raising sustainability concerns.

Electrofuels, or e-fuels, are produced using green hydrogen (in an intermediate phase) and renewable electricity (in a primary phase).

The production of most e-fuels involves thermally reacting hydrogen with carbon dioxide to create syngas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide), which is then processed into hydrocarbon fuels. With renewable electricity and atmospheric carbon dioxide as inputs, e-fuels offer significant scalability potential. Unlike other e-fuels, green ammonia uses atmospheric nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide as a feedstock.

The most widely used method for producing sustainable liquid fuels is transesterification (FAME). This process typically uses first-generation feedstocks such as oil crops (e.g., rapeseed, palm, soy) or animal fats. The dependence on food-based feedstocks poses a risk of indirect land use changes. In the FAME process, oils are extracted from feedstocks, refined, and then transesterified, where heavier oils and fats react with short-chain alcohol and a catalyst to produce lighter esters. After further processing, the resulting fuel can be blended with conventional diesel but only up to a certain percentage due to differing chemical properties, limiting the growth potential of this technology.

In the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) pathway, oils are hydrogen-treated to produce hydrocarbons, which are then cracked and fractioned into jet fuel or renewable diesel. HEFA fuels are mature and currently the cheapest option for sustainable aviation fuel production. Common HEFA feedstocks include plant-based oils and waste cooking oils, while technologies using advanced feedstocks like algae are still in early development stages.

The European Union has set specific decarbonization goals for various sectors. Starting in 2024, key transport modes will be included in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emission intensity of transport by 14.5% or increase the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption to at least 29% (e.g., through e-mobility) by 2030. RED III also sets blending quotas for advanced biofuels, impacting the demand for sustainable liquid fuels.

These goals will be supported by policies promoting sustainable liquid fuels. For example, the ReFuelEU Aviation initiative mandates blending sustainable fuels in aviation, starting at 6% by 2030 and increasing to 70% by 2050, with a significant portion allocated to e-fuels (35% by 2050). For the maritime sector, FuelEU Maritime requires shipping companies to reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity by up to 6% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.

The European Investment Bank Group in Ukraine

In 2023, the European Investment Bank (EIB) established the EU for Ukraine Fund to address Ukraine's urgent needs. The fund focuses on renovating municipal facilities, enhancing public services, and providing financial and advisory support to businesses. EU Member States have pledged approximately €400 million to this initiative.

The Ukraine Fund is a €50 billion financial aid package from the European Union, and it is set to run from 2024 to 2027. Its purpose is to support Ukraine's recovery, rebuilding, and modernization efforts, including bolstering the state budget, promoting investment, and offering technical assistance.

The European Investment Bank plans to deploy more than €2 billion from the Ukraine Facility to support vital infrastructure, the growth of small and medium-sized firms, and other advising assistance.

More than 300 hospitals, social housing facilities, schools, and kindergartens have been renovated in 150 cities.

The European Investment Bank is sponsoring the reclamation of the Hrybovychi dump in Lviv to avert environmental dangers and bring the site up to EU standards. In Mykolaiv, they are supporting the emergency construction of an alternative water supply, the repair of the city's water infrastructure to ensure a consistent supply of clean water, and the renovation of its wastewater facilities.

The Group is funding the modernization of public transit in 10 Ukrainian cities. This comprises new trolleybuses in Lutsk, Sumy, and Kharkiv, as well as new low-floor trams in Lviv and Kyiv.

EIB Global Impact Report 2023/2024

In 2023, the European Investment Bank provided 8.44 billion in financing globally, also including 60 billion total investments supported by EIB financing in 2022 and 2023 as part of the Global Gateway initiative.

We have dedicated 42% of our loans to least developed nations and fragile states, demonstrating substantial commitment during times of need.

In mid-2023, Ukraine, the European Commission, and the World Bank anticipated that the cost of reconstruction in the nation would be approximately €400 billion. The reconstruction effort is estimated to take more than ten years following the conflict.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine have disrupted years of progress in poverty reduction, with the poor bearing the brunt of current energy and food price rises. According to the World Bank, around 700 million people worldwide live in severe poverty, surviving on less than $2.15 per day. Children are twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty.

The fraction of developing market nations with bond rates more than ten percentage points higher than US treasuries was 19% in December 2023, down from a record of 32% in July 2022 but still much higher than the 5% in 2019.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, debt servicing is both greater and growing faster than in other areas.

According to data from Moody's, about 2 billion people represented by at least 42 sovereigns

According to UNCTAD's World Investment Report, poor countries would need $4 trillion per year to accomplish the SDGs by 2030, up from $1.5 trillion in 2015. Furthermore, $1.7 trillion in green energy investment is required each year, while the majority of green foreign direct investment continues to flow to established nations.

In March 2023, the EIB launched the EU for Ukraine programme to provide interim financial relief until fresh EU budget guarantees are available. The EU for Ukraine Fund, promised at €415 million by 18 EU Member States, will fund crucial initiatives for Ukraine's recovery and rebuilding.

The EU for Ukraine Advisory Programme, funded by the EIB with €100 million, provides technical assistance and advisory services to meet immediate needs, support rebuilding efforts, and enable EU membership in Ukraine and Moldova.

Following the catastrophic earthquakes in Turkey in February 2023, EIB Global responded quickly with a €400 million loan to restore water and wastewater infrastructure in the affected districts. It thereby fulfilled its commitment committed at the March 2023 Donors' Conference, as part of the €3.6 billion Team Europe pledge to help people affected in Turkey and Syria.

Team Europe secured €560 million.The funds include a €175 million loan from EIB Global and a credit from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. These loans will be combined with a €150 million EU grant via the Western Balkans Investment Framework and a grant of up to €60 million from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance.

In 2023, EIB Global established a regional headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, facilitating collaboration with business and public partners throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

At the Egypt-Europe Energy Interconnectivity Dialogue, EIB Global announced increased assistance for the Egypt Green Economy Financing Facility, which offers financing for business investment through local financial partners.

EIB Global supports Morocco's forestry policy, which seeks to restore over 600,000 hectares of forest ecosystems, battle soil erosion, control water flow, and boost forestry and tourist revenue.

The EIB-financed component will reforest about 55,000 hectares, resulting in 30 200 years of temporary work and over 6,800 permanent jobs.

EIB Global is funding Tunisia's first power connectivity with Italy, a 200-kilometer undersea cable connecting Tunisia's Cap Bon peninsula to the Italian island of Sicily. This strategic link will promote renewable energy growth in both areas, maximise resource utilisation by allowing for surplus supply import and export, improve supply security, and enhance operational flexibility of power systems.

The link will allow for cross-border exchange of power between Tunisia and Italy. It will lower power bills and allow Italy to make better use of its renewable generation capability. Tunisia has significant green energy potential, but currently generates just a small portion of its power from renewable sources.

The project is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by about 200 tonnes per year compared to the alternative scenario.

Although many African economies are thriving, poverty rates remain extraordinarily high, with an estimated 400 million people living in abject poverty. And with just 65% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa able to access basic drinking water services, and 33% able to access basic sanitation and public transit, there is a significant need for investment in critical infrastructure.

Of the €2.57 billion agreed for operations in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, 76% went to less developed nations and fragile or conflict-affected governments.

The €1.1 billion financing package, including €500 million from the EIB, aims to eradicate a disease for the second time in history and address health and development challenges for the world's most vulnerable people.

€500 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The funds would cover polio immunisations for roughly 370 million children yearly, provide essential health services like measles vaccines, and build health systems to adapt to growing health risks.

€500 million to improve the innovative capability of health-care systems in low- and middle-income nations. The European Commission is sponsoring programmes to increase access to health breakthroughs like mRNA-based vaccinations and medicines in low- and middle-income countries, as part of the EU's global investment agenda. Global Gateway

In 2023, EIB Global signed a €5 million EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund grant as seed money for the health sector enterprise DEK vaccinations Ltd. in Ghana to develop a fill and finish facility for sterile pharmaceutical items, such as vaccinations. The award will allow businesses to conceive and draft a strategy for a larger-scale project that will be evaluated and maybe financed by EIB Global.

In 2023, 71% of the €2.3 billion agreed in these regions went towards climate action and environmental sustainability. This included funding for public and private sector renewable energy projects in Bangladesh and Uzbekistan, energy efficiency investments by EU companies like Enel in Brazil and Chile, urban infrastructure in Mongolia, sustainable transportation in India and Colombia, and sustainable waste management and agriculture in Argentina. 2023 also saw the launch of the Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen Platform with the EIB, KfW, and the Chilean economic development agency (CORFO), as well as agreements for collaboration with the India Hydrogen Alliance and to deliver Vietnam's Just Energy Transition Partnership, which were signed at the Global Gateway Forum.,

Enel São Paulo aims to improve power delivery and offer local subsidies to disadvantaged consumers in impoverished communities on the city's outskirts.

The company represents one of the Enel Group's major distribution enterprises in Latin America, as well as the country's leading energy distributor. It serves 7.6 million people in 24 municipalities in the São Paulo metropolitan area.

EIB Group activities in EU cohesion regions 2023

(READONLINE)

In 2023, the EIB Group invested €36.2 billion in cohesion-related initiatives. EIB financing totalled €29.8 billion (45.1% of total EU loans), above its aim for 2023.

Financing for less developed regions was for 24% of overall EIB loan in the European Union, which was higher than the key performance criterion established for 2023. In 2023, EIB loans supported projects totalling €235 billion in investment across the European Union.

Sustainable energy and natural resources accounted for €10.2 billion, or 34% of overall European Investment Bank cohesion loans, compared to 26% for non-cohesion regions. 52% of loans in the European Union under this target (€19.6 billion) went to projects in cohesion areas.

Sustainable cities and regions: €8.9 billion, or 30% of overall EIB cohesion loans, versus 26% in non-cohesion regions. The cohesion regions accounted for 48% of total EU loans under this target (€18.5 billion), somewhat more than the entire EIB cohesion lending share.

SME and mid-cap credit was €6.3 billion, including 21% of EIB lending to cohesion areas and 18% to non-cohesion regions. Beneficiaries in cohesion areas received half of the EU's funding for SMEs and mid-caps (€12.8 billion in total).

Innovation, digitalisation, and human capital are the only goals for which activity in cohesion regions has not increased in 2023. At €4.5 billion, it accounted for barely 15% of overall EIB cohesion loans. Figure 4 shows that non-cohesion zones had a twice as high percentage of this target. Cohesion areas accounted for just 29% of overall innovation loans (€15.4 billion).

The EIB lent €7.3 billion to projects related to renewable energy and energy networks, accounting for 72% of cohesion lending under this goal. About 60% of this lending was directed to cohesion regions. An additional €2.9 billion was lent for projects involving energy efficiency, water, wastewater, waste management, and natural resource use, with 41% of this lending going to cohesion regions.

The majority of lending was directed towards transport projects, accounting for 69%, while the remaining funds were allocated to integrated territorial development and social housing.

Cohesion regions received 83% of the funding for urban and regional projects, whereas 65% of the funding for strategic transport projects was allocated to these areas.

Of the €2.1 billion allocated to sustainable transport projects, just 25% was designated for cohesion regions.

Cohesion regions received 47% of the funding for social and affordable housing, marking an increase compared to previous years.

Lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps in cohesion regions was higher than the overall EIB cohesion lending share, at 51% and 46% respectively, driven by increased demand for multi-beneficiary investment loans.

Research, development, and innovation projects received €2.0 billion, while digital infrastructure projects received €1.3 billion. Cohesion regions had a high share (62%) in digital connectivity but lower shares in health infrastructure (40%) and education infrastructure (30%). Research, development, and innovation projects had only a 20% share in cohesion regions due to stronger lending in more developed regions.

In 2023, the EIF spent €14.9 billion, partnering with 300 institutions throughout Europe to provide finance for over 350 000 small firms, infrastructure projects, homes, and individuals. This resulted in €134 billion for the real economy.

The European Union invested €14 billion, 49% of which focused on economic and social integration. These funds are intended to raise around €42.7 billion.

The top five recipient nations' cohesiveness areas accounted for 67%, with Romania leading with 31%, followed by Bulgaria, Poland, France, and Italy.

Success in EU convergence and social cohesion has been accompanied by unequal performance across regions, with some places making great progress while others are struggling.

Many regions in Southern Europe and transition regions in higher-income Member States have seen economic downturn and population declines.

Some communities continue to encounter problems in finding suitable jobs and are dealing with rising living costs, compounded by the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

There has been general growth in GDP per capita and employment, but regional differences within EU nations remain, with considerable discrepancies between capital and non-capital areas, particularly in younger Member States.

Over the past decade, there has been a consistent decrease in the average hours worked, alongside a slowdown in labour productivity growth.

In North-Western Europe, nearly 75% of women are part of the workforce, compared to roughly 68% in Southern Europe.

Women's participation in the workforce, including older women, has grown significantly in recent years, though notable regional differences remain.

In cohesion regions, women's employment rates are considerably lower than men's, with gender gaps in employment reaching as high as 30% in parts of Southern Europe.

Educational levels across EU regions have become more similar, which has played an important role in increasing employment rates within the European Union.

Some places experiencing slower economic growth or structural transition have trailing levels of tertiary education and diminishing basic learning accomplishments.

Lower educational achievement in these places is exacerbated by relatively low levels of reading and numeracy among young people.

The number of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEETs), notably women, is significantly higher than the EU average (11.2 percent in 2023).

Adverse demographic trends, particularly earlier retirement owing to health concerns, are predicted to compound these challenges when the boomer generation enters retirement, which is scheduled to finish in 2035.

Affordable housing contributes to social cohesion and well-being by increasing access to quality housing, promoting connection to local communities, social inclusion, and the development of social capital.

It also encourages labour mobility by letting individuals to dwell near economic hubs, supporting the allocation of labour and skills where needed, and serving as a growth accelerator for the region and its neighbouring territories.

Many households across all areas are under strain from housing affordability, which has increased social and economic disparities.

From 2015 to 2023, housing prices in the European Union surged by 48%, while rents went up by 13%, making housing costs a significant burden, particularly in regional capitals and smaller cities.

The highest increases in house prices were observed in Hungary (196%), Lithuania (114%), and Czechia (112%), with the most significant rent hikes occurring in Lithuania (68%), Estonia (59%), and Poland (58%).

Across all regions, 45% of households, and over two-thirds of municipalities in less developed regions, indicate a shortage of investment in social housing, exacerbating the already strained housing markets.

In 2021, the European Investment Bank (EIB) provided a €27 million loan to Sociedad Anónima Municipal Actuaciones Urbanas de Valencia (AUMSA) to support affordable public rental housing projects, which included building 323 new units and renovating four existing ones, thereby expanding AUMSA’s housing stock by more than 50%.

There are significant inequalities in access to services, with regions outside metropolitan areas and cohesion regions experiencing longer travel times, often exceeding 30 minutes, to reach essential services.

These accessibility issues are frequently attributed to underdeveloped transportation infrastructure, a lower number of facilities per capita, sparse population density, and slow adaptation to demographic and economic shifts.

From 2020 to 2022, average download speeds in the EU climbed from 70 Mbps to more than 120 Mbps, owing mostly to the demand for digital services during the pandemic.

There is still a large rural-urban disparity in internet speeds, with metropolitan areas in France and Denmark reaching rates of more than 150 Mbps, while many rural areas in Greece, Croatia, and Cyprus have speeds of less than 60 Mbps.

The EU aspires for complete gigabit coverage by 2030, however as of 2022, only over 60% of Europe has high-speed internet infrastructure, signalling the need for more enhancements.

Romania's digital public services rank below the EU average, with only 17% of internet users using e-government services.

Romania's Recovery and Resilience Plan dedicates over €6 billion to digitalisation efforts, encompassing public administration, connectivity, cybersecurity, digital skills, and the development of an integrated e-health and telemedicine system.

The EIB Project Advisory Support programme aids Romania in advancing digitalisation through collaborations with the National Agency for Public Procurement and the Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation

This assistance includes evaluating ICT projects and supporting the rollout of a €600 million government cloud initiative, aimed at enhancing interoperability, reducing bureaucracy, and bolstering cybersecurity.

The CSI project entails the creation of a complete educational institution in Marseille, France, including elementary (école), lower secondary (collège), and higher secondary (lycée) education levels. It is the first large-scale, free public educational institution in France's Sud region. The project is an important component of the Euroméditerranée eco-friendly urban renewal effort, which aims to boost the region's economic and cultural appeal, promote social and educational variety, and provide high-quality public international education.

CSI will serve 2,200 students and provide new infrastructure in an international public school environment. The initiative emphasises the necessity of public investment in education, which helps shape future generations. It is consistent with the wider European Union aims of economic, social, and territorial solidarity, as well as climate action and environmental sustainability.

The project consists of a €20 million loan for the Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region and a €18 million credit for the Bouches-du-Rhône department. A tripartite agreement between the Sud region, the Bouches-du-Rhône department, and the city of Marseille establishes duties for upper secondary, lower secondary, and basic education.

As Spain's populatio1n ages, fertility rates fall, and family patterns change, there is a greater demand for professional long-term care services.

A private sector provider with around 4,600 employees, 93% of whom are women. The firm works with the public sector to run approved long-term care homes and rehabilitation facilities throughout Spain's autonomous communities.

The EIB has granted Vitalia Plus SA a €90 million investment loan to assist its development plans for 2023-2026. The funds will be utilised to build new facilities such as long-term care centres, rehabilitation hospitals, and assisted living flats.

The new facilities will be energy efficient and contribute considerably to climate change mitigation, in accordance with the European Union's green taxonomy. The initiative will include seven Spanish autonomous communities: Andalusia, Aragón, the Basque Country, Cantabria, Catalonia, Madrid, and Murcia. It aspires to deliver high-quality treatment, mainly in metropolitan areas.

Founded in the seventh century, Kraków has developed to become Poland's second biggest city. Kraków offers a vibrant metropolitan setting, with its old town designated as a UNESCO World legacy site, as well as a rich historical legacy and cultural scene.

Ukrainian refugees now account for approximately 19% of the city's population in Krakow.

In 2023, the EIB approved a €127 million loan for Kraków to fund a substantial urban development project. This will allow the city to reach its full potential, promote long-term growth, and improve the quality of life for its citizens.

The investments will address women's specific needs by improving access to urban infrastructure and services." These gender values are firmly embedded in the city's growth and sectoral objectives, as well as its gender equality strategy.

The municipally owned housing firm WIRO (Wohnen in Rostock Wohnungsgesellschaft) in Rostock, Germany, is constructing and refurbishing 561 affordable housing units.

The EIB offered €100 million in funding in 2023 to assist this project, which will benefit 1,740 city inhabitants.

The north-eastern county of Ida-Virumaa, near the Russian border, qualifies as a just transition area since it must phase out the usage of shale oil for energy production by 2035 and become carbon neutral by 2050.

The Estonian Programme for Cohesion Policy Funds 2021-2027 includes a €5.2 billion allocation from the European Union's European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), and the Just Transition Fund.

In 2023, the EIB signed the first tranche of a €700 million facility to cover the government's co-financing requirement for the plan, assisting in the launch of its investment projects until 2027.

The EIB offered a €60 million investment loan in 2023 to modernise and expand the Port of Leixões, recognising its strategic importance and potential for future growth.

The Port of Leixões intends to lower its carbon footprint and contribute to climate change mitigation through renewable energy sources, energy-saving measures, and eco-friendly activities.

Cyprus has 57 urban wastewater agglomerations, each with a population equivalent of over 2,000.

Three EIB loans totalling €100 million will assist Cyprus in connecting presently unserved rural and peri-urban towns to existing wastewater treatment plants that are already equipped to treat the extra flows, ensuring compliance with the EU Directive.

The plan is to install or rehabilitate 453km of sewer and/or stormwater pipes, providing improved sanitation services to about 14 100 people.

The project, co-financed by the Council of European Development Bank and the European Commission includes three loans, one for each sewage board, totalling €100 million.

As is the situation throughout the country, the county of Galaţi, a cohesive region in southeast Romania, confronts waste management issues because to the large volume of garbage handled in landfills and the need to comply with national and EU landfilling criteria.

The €14.4 million loan from the EIB, signed in 2023, intends to assist the county in developing an integrated waste management system that meets national and EU standards while promoting environmental sustainability, safeguarding public health, and enhancing resource recovery.

The Galaţi project includes separate garbage collection, recyclable sorting, bio-waste treatment, and landfill disposal in accordance with regulations.

For the first time in Romania, an integrated mechanical biological treatment facility for processing residual waste and separately collected bio-waste will be obtained under a design-build-operate contract.

Beyond trash management, the initiative helps to promote the circular economy and decarbonisation, as well as social welfare and economic prosperity. It is in line with the European Green Deal and Paris Agreement objectives.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, SMEs in Europe have suffered unprecedented economic instability and turbulence. "In 2023, they faced further challenges, including higher input costs, higher borrowing costs and uncertainty."

As a result, the SME value added in the European Union, adjusted for inflation, remains below the pre-crisis level of 2019, and is anticipated to fall further in 2023.

The EIB's new loan to SMEs and mid-caps in cohesion areas was €6.5 billion in 2023, over twice the amount in 2022 (€3.3 billion).

In 2023, the EIB agreed to acquire a covered bond for €350 million from Grupo Cajamar, a rural cooperative bank in Spain with a significant concentration on the agri-food industry.

This would allow Cajamar to give up to €980 million in finance to help SMEs and mid-caps expand in rural regions and the critical agri-food industry.

Cajamar and a large proportion of the agreement's final beneficiaries are located in the less developed cohesion regions of Andalusia and Murcia, where per capita GDP is lower than the EU average, unemployment rates are higher than the EU average, and financing is particularly difficult to obtain.

The European Guarantee Fund provided a financial guarantee on business loans for SMEs to the Slovakian bank SZRB, which in turn funded the growth programme of EkoPellets, a pellet manufacturer.

Promoting gender equality in urban projects in Bologna

In recent decades, there has been a trend towards including gender views in city planning with the goal of addressing uneven access and opportunity.

Including a gender perspective is critical for addressing problems connected to social-cultural development and urban inclusion.

Bologna, Italy, has a new 2022 - 2024 investment program which incorporates gender views into urban planning, focusing on sustainable mobility, public infrastructure, and green spaces.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) provides finance and technical help to Bologna's projects that involve gender-related policies.

Bologna intends to become carbon neutral by 2040 and raise female employment rates, focussing on sustainable and equitable urban development.

The scale-up gap: Financial market constraints holding back innovative firms in the European Union

The financing gap for EU scale-ups is significant, with companies raising 50% less capital than those in Silicon Valley. This disparity exists across industries and is unaffected by the business cycle or year of establishment.

A high percentage of EU scale-ups involve foreign lead investors, and many end up being acquired by foreign entities or listed on foreign stock exchanges. This trend contributes to a "brain drain" and the relocation of innovative firms outside the EU.

Lead investors play a crucial role in attracting additional capital, as they often have specialist knowledge and a track record of success. However, in the EU, the presence of foreign lead investors is much higher compared to other regions like San Francisco.

The EIB Group, particularly through the European Tech Champion Initiative and the EIF, has been critical in mobilizing venture capital for innovative companies, with significant investments aimed at supporting scale-ups.

The EU lags significantly behind the US and China in venture capital investments, with the EU capturing only 5% of global venture capital compared to 52% in the US and 40% in China.

Venture capital funds in the EU account for just 5% of the global total, whereas those in the United States and China secure 52% and 40%, respectively.

Specific public sector initiatives can attract private investment, reduce risks associated with new technologies, and offer a variety of funding sources, all contributing to strengthening Europe's competitive position.

Overcoming growth barriers, such as improving the single market and tackling labour shortages, will lead to greater returns on investment.

The lack of EU investors and limited capital resources lead to a "brain drain," causing promising companies and talent to relocate overseas. This undermines the local business environment and hampers Europe's capacity to retain industry leaders and foster new technological advancements.

At the scale-up stage, European companies are just as likely to exit through an IPO as their counterparts in London and San Francisco, with 25% of EU firms going public.

Approximately 26% of European scale-ups are acquired through mergers and acquisitions, a figure comparable to San Francisco but lower than the 37% observed in London.

European scale-ups that achieve significant growth are frequently acquired by foreign entities, with over 60% of these acquisitions involving buyers from outside the EU, predominantly from the United States. This contrasts with San Francisco, where only 13% of scale-ups are acquired by foreign buyers.

European companies that are major investors in R&D are more likely to acquire businesses outside the EU than within it. This reflects broader concerns among scale-ups and venture capital investors about the limited number of strategic acquirers available within the EU.

While 17% of the world’s top R&D investors are based in the European Union, they accounted for only 1% of acquisitions involving EU-based companies between 2013 and 2023. In contrast, a significant portion of these acquisitions were directed towards companies in the United States.

A significant portion of EU scale-ups opt to list on foreign stock exchanges, with 38% of IPOs taking place outside Europe, predominantly in the United States. This trend highlights the challenges posed by Europe's relatively shallow capital markets.

European scale-ups that list abroad tend to achieve higher market valuations at IPO compared to those that list within the EU, despite raising less capital during the process.

The relocation of European firms abroad can result in significant economic costs, including the loss of entrepreneurial talent and reduced positive spillovers within the local ecosystem. While relocation often allows firms to access a broader pool of capital and improve their exit outcomes, it also diminishes the benefits that these successful companies could provide to their original ecosystems.

European scale-ups show a higher tendency to relocate compared to their counterparts in the United States and London. Approximately 15% of EU scale-ups have relocated, with the majority moving to countries outside the EU, particularly to the United States. This compares to 9% of US scale-ups and 12% of London-based scale-ups relocating.

EU scale-ups that relocate tend to be in the software, tech, or biotech/pharma sectors and often move after receiving series A or B funding. These firms also show a greater reliance on non-EU lead investors compared to those that remain within the EU.

Relocation is strongly associated with better exit outcomes for European scale-ups. Companies that relocate are more likely to be acquired or go public, with 32% of relocated firms achieving an IPO compared to 23% of those that remain within the EU.

The underdevelopment and fragmentation of European capital markets significantly constrain innovative firms. These financial limitations are closely linked to the smaller size, limited depth, and higher concentration of capital markets within the EU, particularly in the venture capital sector.

Venture capital investment in the European Union is substantially lower than in the United States, with annual investments being about six times less. Despite a rapid increase in EU venture capital investment over the last decade, its market share remains much smaller compared to the United States.

The European Union attracts a considerable amount of foreign venture capital, with 8.1% of global venture capital raised over the past decade being invested in EU companies. However, only 5% of global venture capital is raised within the EU itself.

Household financial assets in the European Union amount to 2.3 times the EU GDP, much lower than the equivalent figure for the United States, where household financial assets are over five times the US GDP. This disparity reflects the EU's greater reliance on public pensions and social security, with a larger portion of EU household savings held in cash or liquid assets compared to the US.

The European Union's financial system is characterized by a large banking sector, with bank assets comprising 300% of GDP, compared to 85% in the United States. However, the EU has relatively small capital markets, with listed equity making up only 68% of GDP compared to 170% in the United States, and a limited presence of hedge funds and private equity funds.

The amount of venture capital raised within a region strongly influences the amount invested locally. Evidence suggests that venture capital funds tend to prefer investing in their local markets, and there is a significant correlation between the location of these funds and the origin of the capital they raise.

Globally, 66% of venture capital funds are raised from investors within the same country as the fund, a percentage that is even higher in the United States (88%) and China (95%). In contrast, the European Union sees only 43% of venture capital raised within the same country as the fund, highlighting the cross-border nature of EU capital markets.

The European Union faces challenges in scaling venture capital funds compared to the United States. Although average venture capital fund sizes are similar between the EU and the US, the US has a higher number of both small and large funds, making it easier for companies to raise capital for significant scale-up stages.

Venture capital investment in the European Union was significantly impacted by recent changes in monetary policy. After a period of rapid growth fueled by low-cost liquidity in 2021, the venture capital market saw a sharp decline starting in 2022 due to rising financing costs and reduced risk appetite.

The cyclical downturn in the venture capital market has had a pronounced effect on European scale-ups, which saw less growth during the 2021 boom and experienced a sharper decline in 2022. This shift in investor preferences away from large deals has led to fewer financing options and worse exit opportunities for these companies.

Venture capital investment in the greentech sector in the European Union is on par with that of the United States, a unique achievement compared to other segments of the venture capital market. This success is largely due to targeted policy initiatives, significant one-time investments, and supportive government regulations and subsidies. Consequently, while global venture capital financing expanded in 2021, greentech investment in the EU remained resilient through 2022 and 2023, narrowing the investment gap between the US and EU greentech sectors.

The European Union's greentech sector has thrived due to strong research foundations and increasing domestic demand, underpinned by the EU's ambitious decarbonisation goals. The European Green Deal has played a crucial role in driving renewable energy demand, making the EU a key player in greentech innovation. This has resulted in a substantial portion of greentech venture capital being invested in EU companies, particularly in areas such as energy storage, the circular economy, and agricultural technology.

Greentech companies face more significant financing constraints compared to other innovative sectors.

EU greentech scale-ups secure funding comparable to other EU venture capital-backed companies, suggesting that financial constraints are especially stringent in this sector.

The European Commission estimates that an additional €477 million in annual investment is needed for the European Union to meet its Fit-for-55 decarbonization goals.

The EIB Group encourages private investment to help businesses throughout their lifetime and offers financial resources in the case of market failures by utilising its own capital base, particular mandates, and bond issuance on the market as a AAA-rated institution.

In 2023, the EIB Group signed €88 billion of financing in the European Union, supporting a total of €320 billion in investment, with a high catalytic impact. The bank had called capital of €22.2 billion and a balance sheet of €572.4 billion. Lending from the EIB Group is predicted to boost the EU GDP by 1.03% in 2023 and generate 1,460 000 new employment by 2027. See the EIB Group article EIB Group support for EU businesses for a summary of the financial tools the EIB uses to assist EU businesses and how they affect the results of those enterprises.

The EIB has supported nearly 300 companies with approximately €6.8 billion in funding, including nearly €1 billion in venture debt signed in 2023.

The European Commission forecasts a shortage of 180,000 skilled workers in hydrogen production and 66,000 in solar photovoltaic power by 2030.

EIB Investment Survey 2023 - EU overview

In the EU, less firms were expecting to increase investment in 2024, falling to a net balance of 7%.

14% of EU firms feel that they are not investing enough, while most firms are satisfied with their investment over the last 3 years following the pandemic.

26% of EU firms invest while only 32% of US firms invest, meaning there are less EU firms investing in expansion compared to the United States.

European businesses invest 37% of their capital in intangible assets, prioritizing them over physical assets like land, buildings, and infrastructure. In contrast, only 14% of European firms focus on these physical assets, compared to 24% of their American counterparts.

EU firms are expecting to continue investing in replacements rather than expansion, while 47% firms in the US see themselves expanding capacity.

7% of EU firms are willing to have less imported goods and services in production. 14% of US firms are willing to do the same.

34% of EU firms say that the transition to stricter climate standards and regulations will affect their business over the next five years, compared to 42% of US firms.

27% of companies in the European Union view sustainability and the green transition as a business opportunity.

90% of EU and US firms have already taken action to reduce greenhouse gases.

60% of US firms say they are exposed to the physical risks of climate change, with 66% saying the same.

Energy costs remain a major obstacle to investment to 46% of firms.

EU firms are more likely to perceive business regulations and the availability of finance as major obstacles compared to their US counterparts.

Finance in Africa 2024

Despite better market conditions, access to finance remains a significant barrier to development. In sub-Saharan Africa, private sector credit dropped from 56% of GDP in 2007 to 36% in 2022. This decline is linked to slow growth in private capital stock, which lags behind other regions, potentially hindering private sector growth and industrialization.

Banks in sub-Saharan Africa have seen profit increases due to high interest rates, although the gap between deposit and lending rates has narrowed in many areas. Despite this, banks have boosted their investments in government bonds, which have experienced rising yields, further increasing profits. However, as sovereign bond yields are projected to decline, this might impact bank profitability.

The fintech landscape in Africa is on the rise, with active companies reaching 1,263 in 2024, a significant increase from 1,049 in 2022 and 450 in 2020.

Nigeria and South Africa account for nearly half of all fintech firms on the continent.

Payment services are the most prevalent fintech product in Africa, provided by 33% of fintech companies, while 19% offer lending services.

Progress in financial inclusion across Africa is largely driven by the availability of digital financial services, whereas the expansion of traditional banking access is much slower.

The first significant achievement of the Global Gateway initiative was the Africa-Europe Investment Package, which allocated around €150 billion to enhance partnerships with African nations.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has played a crucial role in the Global Gateway, engaging in 110 out of 168 Team Europe initiatives.

To meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, Africa requires an additional $194 billion in annual financing.

While sovereign debt issuance was low in 2023, the issuance of sustainable debt remained strong.

Africa’s share of global GDP has stagnated at 3.1% over the last two decades, with slow income convergence with developed nations

A commonly cited barrier to development in Africa is the continent's relatively low level of industrialisation.

Various challenges, such as inadequate infrastructure, a lack of skilled labor, and limited access to finance, are hindering Africa's development.

In recent years, Africa has faced declines in foreign direct investment, overseas development aid, portfolio investments, and cross-border bank flows.

The crowding out index showed improvement in 2024, but it remains at a high level.

According to the latest EIB Banking in Africa survey, economic conditions are the primary concern for sub-Saharan Africa this year.

Banks in sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly prioritizing gender balance in their lending practices. A survey conducted in 2024 by the European Investment Bank revealed that 72% of banks have implemented a gender strategy, and an additional 17% plan to introduce one.

Two-thirds of banks offer financial products or services specifically aimed at women.

While 59% of banks reported no differences in loan sizes to women, 38% indicated that loans for female-led businesses tend to be smaller than those for male-led businesses.

Nearly 70% of banks noted lower rates of non-performing loans for firms led by women.

Since 2020, the EIB has been examining the landscape of digital financial services (fintech) in Africa.

As of January 2024, Africa has over 1,263 active fintech companies.

Payment and lending services remain the leading fintech products, with 33% of firms providing payment solutions and 19% offering lending services.

Nigeria leads the fintech sector, accounting for 28% of all fintech companies on the continent.

While banks are increasingly competing with fintech companies, collaborations between the two are also prevalent.

Nearly 90% of banks surveyed in sub-Saharan Africa are working to enhance the digital skills of their staff and management through specialized training programs.

"A global EIB study indicates that almost 90% of Africans believe climate change impacts their daily lives."

Only 7% of banks in sub-Saharan Africa reported physical asset damage due to climate risks."

Approximately one-third of banks surveyed reported declines in asset quality linked to climate change.

Stories:

November & December

The green transition is a top priority for Europe. The EU Member States want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, and become climate neutral by 2050.

The UN Climate Change Conference that took place November 6 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, was meant to encourage collaboration between Africa and Europe regarding energy policy.

Due to the increasing scarcity and cost of fossil resources, Europe has been purchasing oil and liquefied gas from all over the world at any price. Faster than ever, new terminals and pipelines are being constructed. Germany, for instance, has offered to assist Senegal in the development of new gas reserves in exchange for the gas flowing to Europe.

The most enduring approach to lower gas prices would be to expedite the development of wind and solar energy and to create an interconnected European grid. In the event that the European Union is unsuccessful, it may be required to assure adequate coal supply and to fill gas storage facilities, which would accelerate the climate crisis.

African states that are rich in resources regard the crisis of energy supply in Europe as a means to secure support for new gas fields. The African Union has spelled out for the UN climate conference that its ambition is to build power plants powered by gas, in the belief that fossil energy will enable Africa to to prosper.

The European Commission estimates that up to 2030, Europe's green investment offensive will cost an additional €350 billion annually.

In the next ten years, the European Investment Bank is prepared to mobilise $1 trillion for climate action.

Seedworks - wikidata potential addition.

One of India's major agricultural products, rice, is suffering as a result of shifting monsoon patterns. States in the East and Northeast of the country (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha), have experienced high temperatures and insufficient rainfall in 2022, in contrast to Central and Southern India, which has experienced excessive rain in recent months, resulting in flooding in the Southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.

The rice crop this season is therefore anticipated to decrease by roughly 6.77 million tonnes to 104.99 million, according to India's ministry of agriculture.

Seedworks has created rice types that use less water, which is becoming less and less available in India, where up to 600 million people experience the highest levels of water stress.

The business creates hybrid sesame, millet, mustard, and tomato seeds in addition to rice. The hybrids have yields that are 30–40% higher than those of typical varieties and were created through selective breeding rather than genetic modification.

In addition to having facilities for research and development in Singapore, Seedworks also has facilities in the Philippines. The company's development ambitions are supported by GEF Capital Partners, a private equity firm which operates in India, Latin America, and the US, with a focus on environmental and climatic sustainability.

After investing more than $25 million in a previous fund in 2018, this year EIB Global, the European Investment Bank's arm for international development, pledged $40 million to the GEF's most recent fund.

Energy crisis

The findings of a study show that for energy-intensive households, the ideal carbon tax transfers are five to six times greater (€650 annually) than for energy-efficient households.

Natural gas prices in Europe reached their highest point in September 2022 at a multiple of roughly 25 compared to two years prior. While gas prices are currently falling quickly on the spot market, the cost to distribute gas in the coming year will still be close to €150 per MWh, or a multiple of about seven.

For most of the time over the past ten years, the German spot price for electricity has been below €40 per MWh. Spot prices have increased to over €200 on average in 2022.

Over two-thirds of the fossil fuels used for home heating in the European Union—nearly 60%—come from natural gas.

Due to the cheap cost of natural gas in 2020, there was no compelling financial reason to purchase a heat pump without government assistance. There are insufficient reductions in fuel expenses to offset the higher capital expense, even with free electricity.

Consider a gas price of €150 per MWh for delivery in 2023, which is the current pricing on the European market. If the retail power price is less than €475 per MWh, investing in a heat pump makes financial sense, putting you in the green triangle.

94 million tonnes of grey hydrogen are currently produced globally using fossil fuels, primarily natural gas, and are therefore a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.

European customers have proved that price signals can be useful by voluntarily reducing their gas consumption by 23% in August and 7% overall so far in 2022 compared to the average over the previous three years.

Sudden changes in energy prices have significant distributional effects on a local, national, and international level that threaten the political consensus developed around the just transition. Furthermore, rising price volatility will probably raise the cost of capital and might put off investors from making investments, especially in the face of regulatory uncertainty. This would be detrimental to just transition.

According to the IEA, approximately 100 million people with access to clean cooking may switch back to unhealthy cooking, and 75 million people who had recently gained access to electricity may no longer be able to afford it.

In general, many residents can no longer pay their energy expenses. Governments throughout Europe have responded - according to Bruegel, €674 billion have been set aside, with €264 billion going to Germany alone, to protect businesses and consumers from rising energy costs.

https://www.eib.org/en/stories/runa-khan-healthcare-friendship-vaccine-bangladesh

Bangladesh will receive a €250 million loan from the European Investment Bank in 2021 to support its purchase of vaccines and nationwide immunization against COVID-19. Millions of Bangladeshis have now received vaccinations and improved healthcare thanks to this support and assistance from Friendship.

Less than 4% of Bangladesh's population had gotten two doses as of the beginning of June 2021. Bangladesh has already fully immunized more than 70% of its population with the aid of Friendship.

https://www.eib.org/en/stories/adaptation-finance-multilateral-development-banks

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the past eight years have been the warmest on record. The year 2022 has been marked by deadly floods and droughts that have had a serious and enduring impact on communities and economies around the world.

If current national climate plans remain the same, the average global temperature is predicted to increase by 2.8C by the end of the century. Humans will suffer severe repercussions that spread to all parts of the globe.

Global adaptation financing from multilateral development banks exceeded €19 billion in 2021. This implies an encouraging rising trend in the financing of adaptation. . Multilateral banks made a commitment to increase adaptation financing, particularly for low-income nations, small island developing states, and underprivileged people, in a joint declaration on climate change at COP27.

The European Investment Bank usually contributes up to 50% for a project. For projects that are predominantly driven by adaptation, the Bank have said  to raise se this to 75%. For adaptation projects in the most at-risk regions of the globe, such as small-island developing states and least-developed nations, the EIB will contribute up to 100%.

300 000 residents of the Lesotho Lowlands will have access to piped, treated water with support from the European Investment Bank.

To lessen the effects of excessive heat on food and pharmaceutical products, in Kenya the EIB is investing in cold-chain solutions. In order to help Banjul, The Gambia, create port infrastructure that is more resistant to future sea level increases, the EIB is working with the African Development Bank and the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program.

Solar power for rural Africa

Despite recent improvements and the sub-Saharan African off-grid solar industry's rapid expansion over the past ten years, some 600 million people in the region still lack access to power.

With a huge discrepancy between urban (70%) and rural (18%) areas, only 40% of people in Benin have access to electricity, leaving over five million without it. Currently, just 10% of homes use off-grid solar equipment.

For off-grid homes, clean and sustainable energy sources like solar panels and solar home systems have large upfront costs that are difficult for low- and medium-income people to afford. A solution is provided by ENGIE Energy Access, the top pay-as-you-go and mini-grids provider in Africa.

Pay-as-you-go allows users to unlock the system for a day or week at a time by making small payments, up until they pay the whole amount and the systems are permanently accessible. The affordability of both basic and contemporary electricity is increased by this payment method.

In order to support the installation of 107 000 high-quality solar home systems in Benin, the European Investment Bank signed a loan agreement for €10 million with ENGIE Energy Access Benin, a subsidiary of ENGIE. In the West African nation, this will allow an estimated 643 000 people access to clean energy.

For the long haul

Following the Russian invasion in February 2022, the European Investment Bank relocated its staff from Ukraine. However, at the same time, it significantly expanded its aid to the nation. It has intensified its collaboration with local governments, cities, and UN specialists. The Ukrainian government estimates that in order to recover from the Russian invasion, it will take ten years and around €765 billion to complete this effort.

The social and cultural branch of the EU bank, the EIB Institute, also provided €2.5 million in humanitarian aid to Ukrainians affected by the conflict.

The Bank assisted in repurposing grants of €59 million to improve healthcare and housing for those who were forced to evacuate their homes, erect temporary bridges over war-damaged rivers, and repair trains and railways in Ukraine.

Additionally, the Bank provided Ukraine with funding from the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund worth almost €18 million to assist local governments in taking care of the 700,000 displaced residents. Austria, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom all support the collaboration fund.

Crisis to spur green transition

According to the European Investment Bank's most recent annual climate survey from 2022, the majority of Europeans believe that the conflict in Ukraine encourages them to conserve energy and lessen their reliance on fossil fuels, with 66% believing that the invasion's effects on the price of oil and gas should prompt actions to speed up the transition to a greener economy. This opinion is shared by responders from Britain and China, while Americans are divided.

According to the European Investment Bank's most recent annual climate survey from 2022, a significant portion of EU respondents (84%) stated that if we do not significantly cut back on our consumption of goods and energy in the near future, the negative effects would be non-reversible. 63% of EU citizens want energy prices to be based on consumption, with higher costs for those individuals or businesses who use the most energy.

The majority of people in the EU and China (80% and 91%, respectively) claim to experience the effects of climate change on a daily basis. Americans (67%) and Britons (65%) place slightly lower importance on the impact of climate change on their daily lives.

In the European Union, 87% of respondents and in the UK, 85%, believe that their governments are moving too slowly to halt climate change. Few respondents from the UK, EU, and the US believe that their governments will be successful in decreasing carbon emissions by 2030.

47% and 45%, respectively, of EU and UK citizens polled wish that the government prioritize the growth of renewable energy sources.

64% of EU respondents favor higher taxes on polluting activities like air travel and SUVs to reflect their environmental costs.

40% of respondents from the EU believe that their government should lower energy-related taxes in the near future (as opposed to 29%, 24%, and 23% of respondents from the UK, China, and the US). The British, Chinese, and Americans like other methods more, such as capping or regulating the price of gas, oil, and coal.

The answer is green

According to the European Commission, until 2030, additional investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electricity networks will be needed to make Europe independent from Russian gas.

The EIB Group have made contributions to a number of projects in the ene.rgy sector, specifically wind farms, cutting-edge batteries, and international energy links. One of the energy projects involve Northvolt in Northern Sweden - the company will produce batteries with the lowest carbon footprint possible.

Shoring up against erosion

The development of ports and dams along the Danube to the Black Sea have severely destroyed the beaches and coastline throughout the entire southern portion of the Romanian coast. This has caused "sediment transport," or the water's normal flow of sand and gravel, to deteriorate.

The Dobrogea Litoral Water Basin Administration is working on a project to add new sand to beaches, reinforce cliffs with concrete and stone strips, and renovate existing coastal infrastructure to protect over 17,000 hectares of wetlands with Natura 2000 status. This will reduce coastal erosion and protect against flooding.

There are about 400 000 people living in the larger region of the coastal protected areas in Constanta county, which has about 70 kilometers of shoreline, of which about 40 kilometers are open to tourism each year.

The county saves €17 million annually through work on the beaches that it would otherwise have to spend on damage costs from occurrences like coastal flooding.

In tune with the Zeitgeist

The proportion of energy-poor German households—those that spend more than 10% of their net income on energy bills—has doubled since 2021 to 41%, driven by the sharp increase in energy and food prices since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

the plan by the northern city of Hannover to construct 640 new, energy-efficient, reasonably priced apartments for rent is entirely in keeping with the zeitgeist, which also heavily emphasizes concerns about climate change. The city's municipal housing business, Hanova, will construct and own the new apartments, which will contain 408 cheap housing units in addition to 232 social housing units for two-person households making no more than €23 000 annually.

The energy performance of 82% of the new buildings will be at least 20% greater than Germany's near-zero-energy building benchmark (KfW 55).

The remaining projects will aim to achieve energy performance that is at least 10% higher than this standard. Additionally, the project complies with EU Energy Performance of Buildings standards.

Beets to beat disease

In 2018, it seemed sensible for the EU to outlaw neonicotinoides, an insecticide used to shield plants like sugar beets from ailments brought on by aphids. In an effort to promote more environmentally friendly agriculture, the European Union decided to ban neonicotinoids after it was discovered that the insecticide was bad for bee populations.

The ban on neonicotinoides caused jaundice devastation in certain sugar beet fields, reducing harvests in one of the world's largest beet sugar producers and endangering the industry. France subsequently extended the ban until 2023.

According to one study, without plant breeding, Europe would have produced 20% fewer arable crops over the last 20 years, consuming an additional 21.6 million hectares of land and emitting 4 billion tonnes of carbon.

Research on pests and diseases that do not generally afflict Northern Europe is essential. In 2021, farmers discovered stem rust on wheat in the Champagne area of France, a disease that had previously only occurred in Morocco for 20 to 30 years. Because of climate change, insects that used to die off over the winter are now alive and multiplying.

Wheat species created for Morocco are currently being crossed with plants to create new varieties for northern France. Soy beans, which were previously grown predominantly in the south of France, are now grown in southern Germany.

The needs of refugees

The European Investment Bank authorized a €2 billion loan in June this year to aid with the integration of Ukrainian migrants. The funding is provided through the EU Bank's Solidarity Package for Ukraine, which was developed in collaboration with the European Commission.

In 2022, Poland has taken in almost 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees. The magnitude of the migration has resulted in a 50% rise in the population of Rzeszów, the largest city in south-eastern Poland. Warsaw's population has increased by 15%, Kraków's by 23%, and Gdansk's by 34%.

Ukrainian refugees have the legal right to reside and work across the European Union. They are also entitled to the same benefits as Poles, including health insurance, free public education, and child allowance.

Less than a month after the invasion, the Polish government established the Aid Fund, run by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, which funds all actions and programs aimed at assisting and integrating Ukrainian refugees.

The European Investment Bank has already made a €600 million loan to the Aid Fund, the first installment of a €2 billion loan to the fund. The monies are distributed by BGK to local governments and other public bodies that welcome and house Ukrainian migrants.

Global Health Is the Best Investment We Can Make

The International Monetary Fund cautioned in September that "the impact of increasing import costs for food and fertilizer for those extremely vulnerable to food insecurity will add $9 billion to their balance of payments pressures - in 2022 and 2023." This would deplete countries' foreign reserves as well as their capacity to pay for food and fertilizer imports."

Higher interest rates and tighter financial conditions have heightened the risk of widespread debt distress in low- and middle-income countries. Recent global shocks have jeopardized vital long-term health investment by putting public finances under severe strain.

The EIB has promised at least €500 million ($520 million) to mobilize more than €1 billion in investment, with a special emphasis on basic health care in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Building up energy efficiency, brick by brick

In Spain, four out of every five buildings use more energy than they should. They are either inadequately insulated or consume energy inefficiently.

The Unión de Créditos Immobiliarios (UCI), which has operations in Spain and Portugal, is increasing loans to homeowners and building management groups for energy-efficiency initiatives. The lender has established the Residential Energy Rehabilitation initiative, which aims to remodel and encourage the use of renewable energy in at least 3720 homes in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and Seville. The works are expected to cut the total energy usage of those houses by half.

The Residential Energy Rehabilitation initiative, a partnership between the EIB and UCI, is set to mobilize around €46.5 million in energy efficiency upgrades by 2025, lowering carbon emissions in half for the 3 720 units involved and saving approximately 8.1 GWh of energy. The project is estimated to generate around 220E new employment.

The Wallonia project will repair 500 buildings and save around 35% of the energy that is now consumed. It has the ability to reduce carbon emissions by 7 545 tonnes per year.

The climate crisis is also a health crisis

Even as COVID-19 spreads, a new study predicts that the chance of another pandemic grows by 2% per year. The interaction of the climate issue with public health in the next decades might result in global instability.

The last United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt highlighted the reality that sustainability involves more than just decarbonization, electric cars, or climate-adaptation measures like flood defenses. It is also about being prepared for a pandemic.

A helpful paradigm is the global effort to guarantee equal distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations. The Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment, a financing mechanism supported by donors and expedited by the European Investment Bank, provided free vaccinations to individuals in the world's 92 poorest countries.

So far, more than 1.6 billion COVAX doses have been provided to poor nations, assisting in the vaccination of 52% of their population, compared to a global average of 64%.

Financing nature and biodiversity

According to the WWF Living Planet report 2022, species numbers have fallen by 69% on average since 1970. Climate change and plastic waste have been threatening ocean ecosystems and marine life.

A year ago, MDBs adopted the "Joint MDB Statement on Nature, People, and Planet," in which they pledged to stepping up efforts to conserve, restore, and sustainably use nature. Last month, MDBs reported progress on the joint statement's implementation and demonstrated how they are already putting commitments into action.

The Land Degradation Neutrality Fund, in which organizations like the European Investment Bank have invested, focuses on sustainable land use and ecosystem restoration initiatives in underdeveloped nations. Sustainable coffee value chains in Peru and sustainable forestry in Ghana are two projects that aim to decrease land degradation and improve forest cover.

The Clean Ocean Initiative plans to give €4 billion in funding towards decreasing plastic waste at sea by the end of 2025. Improved wastewater treatment in Sri Lanka, Egypt, and South Africa are two examples, as is solid waste management in Togo and Senegal.

Green and local in Cyprus

The benefits of urban renewal are widely established. If done correctly, it has the potential to revitalize and improve metropolitan landscapes while also considerably enhancing the lives of those who work and live in cities.

Improved infrastructure makes cities more appealing as commercial and tourism destinations, encouraging economic growth and employment creation. It also benefits residents' well-being by providing improved education, public services, and recreational opportunities.

The project, the revitalization of Limassol's historic center, Cyprus's second biggest city was completed in 2013. It restored historic buildings and urban areas, improved traffic management, established pedestrian zones, and constructed new energy, telecommunications, and water connections.

Climate survey (focus on Africa) messages:

Climate change, according to 88% of Africans surveyed, is already hurting their daily lives.

Climate change and environmental destruction have impacted 61% of respondents' income or source of livelihood.

The survey results show that climate change has significantly impacted African people's livelihoods, with 61% reporting that their income has been impacted. These losses are usually the result of severe drought, increasing sea levels or coastal erosion, or extreme weather events like floods or storms.

More than half of African respondents (57%) said that they or people they know have already made steps to adapt to the effects of climate change. Among these measures are investments in water-saving devices to mitigate the effects of drought and drain clearance ahead of flooding.

Meanwhile, more than a third (34%) of all African respondents said climate change is one of the most pressing issues confronting their country, among other key issues such as inflation and access to health care.

Between August 1 and 25, 2022, over 6 000 respondents aged 15 and above from ten African nations took part in a climate survey, with a representative panel for each of the countries surveyed. The survey found that 88% of respondents claimed climate change was hurting their lives, while 61% of respondents claimed it has impacted their income or source of livelihood.

January stories

A €64.5 million European Investment Bank loan combined with a €5.55 million European Union grant to the Republic of Senegal is starting in 2023. The funding will provide drinking water to Saint-Louis inhabitants, plus two communities in Senegal's center and south, Kaolack and Kolda.

Saint-Louis will benefit from the following by the completion of the project a new drinking water treatment plant, reservoir units for storage, and the enlargement of the distribution network.

This initiative is critical since it is aligned with the African Sustainable Cities Initiative. People will be relocated if there is no water in smaller cities as they seek a better way of life.

The €5.55 million European Union fund, mobilized as part of Team Europe by the European Investment Bank, will assist Senegal's water utility in accelerating its 35000 subsidised drinking water connections for 350 000 consumers across the nation.

The European Investment Bank funded over 90% of the project expenses under the pandemic emergency measures, compared to its regular ceiling of 50%. The new finance from the Bank enabled the Senegalese government to free up €34 million for economic recovery from the COVID-19 issue.

The European Investment Bank is collaborating with One World Media to promote the Women's Solutions Reporting Award.

The European Investment Bank established the SheInvest program three years ago with the goal of raising €1 billion in investments to assist women in obtaining loans and running enterprises across Africa.

The European Investment Bank funded an additional €2 billion in gender-lens investment in Africa, Asia, and Latin America at the Finance in Common Summit at the end of 2022.

Women continue to earn around 25% less than males. Almost a billion women are unable to obtain loans to establish a company or create a bank account in order to save money. Increasing women's equality in banking and the workplace might boost the global economy by up to $28 trillion by 2025.

Increasing women's equality in banking and the workplace might boost the global economy by up to $28 trillion by 2025.

Energy financing by the EIB in Europe reached a new high in 2022, a part of the REPowerEU package being to assist up to €115 billion in energy investment through 2027, in addition to regular lending operation in the sector.

Regardless of how huge Europe's investment has been compared to the first 20 years of this century, Europe's level of productive investment has lagged behind that of the United States - by two percentage points of GDP annually since 2010, according to European Commission data.

Climate investment in Europe is, admittedly, higher this decade than previous. However, the gap to the EU's "Fit for 55" climate package needs remains 356 billion euros a year. Furthermore, since 2020, US firms' desire to innovate has increased, whereas European firms' has decreased.

Korlat is home to Croatia's largest wind farm, which consists of 18 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 3.6 megawatts. The power station generates around 170 gigatonnes of electricity each year. That equates to around 1% of Croatia's yearly electricity use and energy for over 50 000 families.

Hrvatska Elektroprivreda is a prominent player in Croatia's low-carbon energy transition. Aside from the onshore wind farm, it is also establishing five small solar photovoltaic facilities (totaling 22 megawatts) in Croatia's southern counties of Split-Dalmatia, Zadar, Istria, and Primorje-Gorski Kotar.

The two projects, which are backed by the European Investment Bank, are expected to save 66 kilotons of CO2 emissions per year and 28.8 gigatonnes of electricity per year.

Five small solar photovoltaic facilities (totaling 22 megawatts) are being built in Croatia's southern counties of Split-Dalmatia, Zadar, Istria, and Primorje-Gorski Kotar - the projects initiated in 2022, backed by the European Investment Bank, are expected to save 66 kilotons of CO2 emissions per year and 28.8 gigatonnes of electricity per year.

Croatia aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030 and phase out coal by 2033. However, the shift to a low-carbon economy will be difficult, necessitating significant expenditures in new energy infrastructure and additional renewable energy resources.

Croatia established a 2030 National Energy and Climate Plan to attain its aim. The national policy targets for a 36.4% renewable energy share by 2030, as well as major investment in the energy industry, including hydropower, wind farms, solar photovoltaic facilities, and hydrogen energy.

Among the initiatives that will contribute to Croatia's national plan are HEP's wind farm and five solar power facilities. The European Investment Bank has agreed to fund this project with a €63 million loan, which will be signed in December 2021.

Another HEP project that will transform Croatia's energy environment is the combined-cycle power plant EL-TO Zagreb, which was funded with €130 million in 2018 by the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The power station, which will be located in Croatia's capital, will combine a gas and a steam turbine, producing more than 50% more energy than a standard simple-cycle plant.

The new power plant will offer dependable heat and electricity to the northwestern portion of Zagreb by generating 150 megawatts of electricity and 114 megawatts of heat.

The Bank will offer an extra €30 billion in energy loans and equity funding for high impact energy projects across the EU under the REPowerEU program over the next five years. These additional funding will also support critical initiatives in Croatia related to renewables, energy efficiency, grids and storage, electric car charging infrastructure, and the development of breakthrough technologies.

Over the last decade, Europe has developed a rapid start-up scene that has given birth to global players, including more than 70 unicorns, and has created more than two million jobs. Investment in European start-ups increased sixfold between 2010 and 2020, reaching approximately €40 billion.

Europe does a poorer job of nurturing young companies because of a failure to support their development into industry leaders of the future. Far too often, promising European start-ups struggle to raise the necessary capital to expand and mature. They are forced to either relocate to the US's deep capital markets or sell themselves to larger rivals with deeper pockets.

Nearly a quarter of all European venture capital deals in 2020 had at least one US or Asian investor. Most deals, particularly the largest ones, saw a small minority of capital raised from European investors.

As a result, start-ups in the United States can typically raise far more money—up to five times as much as in Europe.

To address the continent's venture capital imbalance, the European Investment Bank Group has just established alongside a number of EU member states the European Tech Champions Initiative.

ETCI aims to raise more than €10 billion in investments in innovative firms in the early stages of development. This level of investment would have a significant influence on closing the gap with the United States.

March:

Barking up the right tree

According to Interpol, up to one-third of all wood furniture is made from illegally sourced timber.

Every year, the globe loses 10 million hectares of forest to illegal logging. Interpol also states that the illicit wood sector is worth almost $152 billion per year, attracting some of the world's top crime syndicates.

Water crisis: a vital investment opportunity

It is estimated that global water demand will surpass global supply by 40% by 2030.

According to data from 2021, more than $300 billion of business value is at risk due to water scarcity. It is estimated that using $55 billion will help tackle water scarcity.

Almost two billion people do not currently have access to clean drinking water. Water scarcity affects half of the world's population at some point during the year.

To achieve SDG 6, current global spending on water needs a fourfold increase - approximately $1 trillion per year (1.21% of global GDP).

$470 billion is lost every year through flood damage and poor irrigation.

The CDP is a non-profit collecting environmental impact data. According to this organization, more than $300 billion of business value is at risk due to water scarcity. It is estimated that using $55 billion will help tackle water scarcity.

Green energy priority

African survey respondents report worries about inflation, health care, and environmental degradation due to climate change. 3 out of 4 respondents want renewable energy to be prioritized as a source of energy.

51% of African respondents see climate change as one of the biggest problems currently facing. 41% see inflation and 39% see access to health care as the biggest issues.

76% of African respondents prefer renewable energy as the main source of energy. Still, 13% cite using fossil fuels.

The European Investment Bank's funding for 52 African countries reached 60 billion EUR - this funding has been used for infrastructure (specifically water infrastructure) and renewable energy, for both large and small enterprises.

Putting our money where the gap is

Europe is behind the United States when it comes to investment - this is 1.5% to 2% of EU GDP per year.

The EU has focused 3.5% of its income to oil and gas productions in the beginning of the Ukraine war.

In terms of trade, high oil prices have driven a depreciation in the euro and imported inflation.

An additional 11 million Europeans could be driven to poverty due to the energy inflation.

The European Fund for Strategic Investments raised more than €500 billion in finance. The European Guarantee Fund raised €200 billion by leveraging a guarantee from Member States.

https://www.eib.org/en/stories/belgium-carbon-dioxide-masonry-block

Cement production accounts for 2.4% of worldwide CO2 emissions from industrial and energy sources.

Takeaways from the EIB Group Forum

The European Union falls short in scale-up finance and assisting enterprises seeking to access stock markets.

The American Inflation Reduction Act means American competitors will get greater access to financing and assistance. For Europe, it could be an opportunity since there are many clients in the US, and enterprises may relocate there and benefit from the incentives, which will have a beneficial impact on their EU operations.

The power of water in the Aosta valley

Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque (CVA), received a €200 million loan from the European Investment Bank in 2011 to renovate existing dams and hydroelectric facilities in the Aosta Valley and develop a photovoltaic plant. (perhaps not appropriate for an edit, but I want to keep it here for future ref.)

April.

Fairness in the favelas

Brazil is the region's largest single energy user, accounting for around 36% of total energy consumption. However, the incidence of energy theft is roughly 15%, and it exceeds 50% in the country's north.

Electricity theft cost BRL 6.5 billion (about €1.15 million) in 2020 alone.

Road projects

According to the World Bank, 17 million people in Madagascar's rural areas live more than two kilometres from an all-season road. In Madagascar, only 11% of the rural population has access to power.

In Madagascar, 81% of the population lives in poverty. The annual expense for the restoration of damaged or destroyed roads requires special attention.

In December 2022, the European Investment Bank paid the road agency €73.6 million in the form of a €50.4 million loan and a €23.2 million grant from the European Union for work on the RN6 national road connecting Diego Suarez (Antsiranana in Malagasy) and Ambanja in the island's extreme north, and the RN13 highway connecting Ambovombe and Fort-Dauphin (Taolagnaro in Malagasy).

Madagascar's government hopes to expand the ports of Antsiranana in the north and Taolagnaro in the south, connecting them to improved road networks. This is required since Madagascar imports many necessities and relies on export money, especially perishable foods.

Toamasina, located on Madagascar's eastern coast, is the country's main port, handling around 80% of foreign marine traffic. It is generally well-connected by road networks to Antananarivo, including a ring road around the country's capital.  

The country received a €28 million loan from the European Investment Bank for its infrastructure.

The project to modernize and create 348 kilometers of roads costs €235.5 million, which includes a €116 million grant from the European Union, a €110 million loan from the European Investment Bank, and €4.8 million in finance from the Republic of Madagascar.

Since 2016, a total of €100.4 million has been paid to the Republic of Madagascar through this project.

In 2021, the European Union launched the Global Gateway initiative to build smart, sustainable, and secure linkages in the digital, energy, and transportation sectors, as well as to boost global health, education, and research networks.

Between 2021 and 2027, the Global Gateway plans to mobilize up to €300 billion in investment in vital infrastructure throughout the world.

The European Investment Bank provided technical assistance to the RN 6 and RN 13 highway projects, including road safety studies that included road users and pedestrians.

New and restored roads are built typically replacing cyclone-swept dirt pathways. Bridges can be seen on several segments of road. These structures have been reinforced to increase their durability to extreme weather occurrences.

Voltaic (for Wikidata maybe, not Wikipedia)

Highly pure silicon is at the core of photovoltaic technology, converting sunshine into electricity. Purifying silicon is a high-energy process that emits 50 kg of CO2 for every kilogram of photovoltaic-grade silicon produced. However, releasing greenhouse gases into the environment is precisely what solar energy is designed to avoid.

ROSI (Return of Silicon) is a France-based start-up. The company works towards finding economically feasible technology for recovering and reusing high-purity silicon and other high-value materials.

Along the photovoltaic value chain, waste gets created during production, when ingots of highly pure silicon are cut to form solar cells, and around 40% of the material is wasted, washed away as microparticles.

The waste of these materials results in carbon emissions and in 2019, this was valued at approximately $1.5 billion. In the same year, the loss of material was approximately 200 000 tonnes of pure silicon.

A second waste stream comes at the end of life of photovoltaic modules. Their average lifespan is 20 to 25 years, implying that a surplus of old panels will flood the market in the future years. Because it is difficult and expensive to separate the various elements in panels, recycling efforts now focus mostly on the aluminum frame, junction box, and occasionally the front glass.

Silicon Valley in the Middle East (again for wikidata -maybe-)

Walid Hanna co-founded the Middle East Venture Partners investment business with Walid Mansour, raising their first $10 million fund in 2010. The fund invests in new enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa, with a focus on technology, innovation, women entrepreneurs, and young people.

The company has invested in over 60 businesses throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and Pakistan.

Partech Partners is a venture funding firm focused on entrepreneurs in Africa founded in 1982. It has over 240 firms in 40 countries in its portfolio, and is considered an active technology investor.

In 2018, the company launched its first Fund "Partech Africa" to invest in African digital projects in sectors like financial inclusion, banking, healthcare, logistics and education. The first Fund received 125 million euros from investments, supporting 17 young companies. The supported companies were TradeDepot, Wave, Yoco, Reliance and Nomba.

To continue its successful approach on the continent, the corporation announced the opening of Partech Africa Fund II in February 2023. The fund's first closure raised €245 million, much over its target size, making it the largest Africa-focused fund to date.

The European Investment Bank contributed €10 million in 2017 and €45 million in 2022 to both funds.

Development and integration in North Macedonia

An EU fund and project will result in the purification of 90% of Macedonia's water. The initiative is part of the EU Economic and Investment Plan, the Global Gateway plan, and the Western Balkans Green Agenda.

The project has already received technical assistance grants from the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Western Balkans Investment Framework, and the French government during its preparatory phase, demonstrating Team Europe's commitment to North Macedonia. The help is intended to address capacity issues among local partners and improve their ability to design, implement, and manage investment initiatives.

The wastewater treatment facility in Skopje is being built with the help of a €68 million EIB loan agreed in 2019.

the European Investment Bank has committed about €750 million for water and sewage infrastructure in the Western Balkans. Enhancing access to drinking water and sanitation services has been stated as one of the Bank's goals.

This is the second EIB Global investment in this sector, following a €50 million loan signed in November 2022 for the construction and rehabilitation of water supply, wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure, as well as emergency flood protection measures for 80 municipalities across North Macedonia.

The European Investment Bank invests €3 billion in water infrastructure each year, with an emphasis on water security and climate change adaptation. Approximately 30% of the bank's water projects are located outside of the European Union, in some of the world's poorest and most drought-stricken countries.

Funding from the European Investment Bank, around €2.17 billion in the sector by 2022, improved sanitation for 10.8 million people and provided greater access to clean drinking water for 25.4 million people.

Stocking up for resilience

International wheat prices reached their highest level in 20 years in the spring of 2022. In Tunisia, the official price of a baguette has been the same for more than 15 years: 0.19 Tunisian dinars (about 6 euro cents).

Subsidies kept official bread prices low for all Tunisians, but wheat prices had risen to well than $430 per tonne by May 2022, more than double the cost a year earlier due to supply interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Tunisia, which imports over 95% of the soft wheat used in its bread, increased its purchases by $250 million in 2022.

To better withstand future food price crises, Tunisia intends to extend and upgrade its nationwide network of grain silos, with the mid-term objective of tripling its stockpiles from two to four months of supply. The European Investment Bank agreed to lend the project €150 million in December 2022. A total of €82 million is set aside for grain imports.

While Tunisia only produces around 5% of the soft wheat it requires, it meets 50% to 60% of the need for hard wheat, often known as durum wheat. Couscous and pasta, both Tunisian classics, are made from hard wheat.

The national poverty line is reached by 15% of Tunisians. Bread subsidies help the impoverished acquire the calories they require. Poverty and malnutrition are on the increase in many nations after dropping gradually for 15 to 20 years.

High bread prices sparked "bread riots" in Tunisia in the 1980s, and also played a role in the Arab Spring, a wave of anti-government protests that swept the Arab world in the early 2010s.

When compared to a similar scheme in Egypt, which covers around 70% of the population, offering subsidized bread to all Tunisians results in waste. The Tunisian government is investigating ways to revamp the program while continuing to provide subsidies to the poorest households.

In addition to the €150 million loan, the European Investment Bank is proposing a €20 million grant from the European Union for infrastructural and technical support to help steer the project.

Tunisia is presently negotiating a $1.9 billion loan with the foreign Monetary Fund, and its crippled finances make borrowing on foreign markets nearly difficult.

Sustainable investment remains key for growth

In 2020, the European Investment Bank was to allow €1 trillion in green investment by 2030 - since then the EIB Group has supported a total of €222 billion in green investment, accounting for over a quarter of their objective.

To complement the European Commission's REPowerEU initiative, the EIB will fund an extra €30 billion in renewable energy investment over the next five years.

In 2022, the EIB sponsored a record €17 billion in energy investments throughout the European Union.

According to the International Energy Agency, yearly investment needs will exceed €600 billion by 2030. This is a significant potential for the European Union and other countries throughout the world.

Driving Croatian growth

Croatia has a large number of SMEs, with over 180 000 functioning there in 2022. They employ around 760 000 people, making it one of the country's most important sources of employment.

To help Croatian enterprises, the European Investment Fund gave another guarantee of about €350 million to Erste&Steiermärkische Bank d.d., which was signed in 2021.

The guarantee was made through the Pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF), a €25 billion guarantee facility established by the European Investment Bank Group in 2020 to accelerate Europe's post-COVID-19 recovery, protect jobs, and provide much-needed liquidity to European SMEs in the midst of the crisis.

In November 2022, the European Investment Fund signed a supplementary €50 million guarantee deal with Erste Bank Croatia to assist Croatian small company innovation and digitalization, as well as the growth of the cultural and creative industries.

Human rights in a water pipe

The European Investment Bank is one of the world's major water lenders, having spent about €79 billion in over 1600 projects over the previous 60 years.

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly decided that safe drinking water and sanitation are fundamental human rights. Today, however, around two billion people globally have contaminated drinking water. In 2022, over 2 billion people, 25% of the world's population, lacked consistent access to clean drinking water.

Empresa de Gua e Eletricidade, a local utility firm, established a 20-year plan to enhance and extend water supply in the So Tomé region. This will result in better water distribution, greater reservoirs and water treatment plants, and enhanced access to clean water.

The European Investment Bank contributed €8.44 million to the proposal, which was signed in December 2022. A €5.56 million award for technical help is included in the agreement. This project is part of the EU worldwide Gateway initiative, which intends to attract €300 billion in worldwide investments between 2021 and 2027.

Safer Armenia kindergartens with EU energy efficiency grant

From 2017 to 2020, a renovation project in Yerevan restored over 150 kindergartens to make them more energy efficient and adaptable to seismic activity and large temperature changes from summer to winter.

The Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership provided a €5 million grant to fund the project. The European Investment Bank assists in the administration of the Partnership, which is sponsored by the European Union and other donors such as the Green Climate Fund to finance energy projects in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus. The Partnership teaches countries how to cut carbon dioxide emissions, save money on energy, and safeguard the environment.

Laos rural roads upgrade boosts economy, health, schools

The European Investment Bank contributed €5 million to a road project in Laos in addition to the EU bank's €20 million loan. The European Union's Asia Investment Facility provided an additional €5 million grant.

How to prevent river trash from ending up in the ocean

SEADS hopes to establish Blue Barriers in 30 rivers over the next five years, collecting 70 000 tonnes of plastic, lowering CO2 emissions by 14 000 tonnes, and saving the lives of 7 000 birds and sea animals each year.

June

Jordan water project

The Aqaba-Amman desalination project is a long-term solution to Jordan's water crisis.

By the end of 2028, a new flagship project is projected to transform all of this. The Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project will collect water from the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aqaba in the south, desalinate it, and route it 450 kilometers north to Amman and its surrounding area, delivering 300 million cubic meters of water each year.

The Jordanian government has collaborated with the European Investment Bank and Team Europe, and other international agencies to come up with an infrastructure project for water in Jordan. The project is estimated to cost €3 billion and will employ 4000 people throughout the building period.

The European Investment Bank was the first institution to commit funding to the project in December 2022, signing a €200 million loan.

Jordan wants to reduce non-revenue water from about 50% of total national supply to 25% of total supply to urban systems by 2040. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation estimates that the investment required to achieve this goal would be €1.7 billion over the next ten years.

At an international summit in Amman in March 2022, $1.83 billion in grants and loans were offered for the project. According to Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation, new offers have brought the total to $2.35 billion.

Roads to connect Ukraine

The European Investment Bank additionally granted Moldova with €150 million in March 2022 for the restoration of road portions on the Trans-European Transport Network. These funding will be used to enhance the Solidarity Lanes network that runs through Moldova.

In 2021, the European Union launched the Global Gateway initiative to build smart, sustainable, and secure linkages in the digital, energy, and transportation sectors, as well as to boost global health, education, and research networks. Between 2021 and 2027, the Global Gateway plans to mobilize up to €300 billion in investment in vital infrastructure throughout the world.

EU Global Gateway

The European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus is the primary financial mechanism used to mobilize investment under Global Gateway. It will attract up to €135 billion in investment in several Global Gateway areas. This development fund is a novel tool for generating investment through guarantees covering the risks of big and small enterprises, as well as grants mixed with long-term loans.

A new €400 million Global Gateway Fund is being established for high-impact private sector investment.

The European Investment Bank will provide €300 million to the fund. This, along with contributions from the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus, is anticipated to generate more than €4 billion in investment.

In 2022, the European Commission announced €150 billion in EU-financed projects under the Africa-Europe Investment Package. This is around half of what Global Gateway hopes to raise.

Algae-powered crops

Chemical fertilizers destroy soil, contaminate groundwater, and release nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 265 times more toxic to the environment than CO2.

Seeds of growth

With around 338,000 functioning in Bulgaria in 2022, SMEs and mid-caps are major contributors in the Bulgarian economy. They also employ over 75% of the workforce and create 65% of the economy's added value.

What is the blue economy?

The Bank is lowering pollutants released into the ocean by investing in cleaner ships and biofuel initiatives, as well as in sustainable seafood production and the restoration of many devastated coastal areas.

The European Investment Bank and the Asian Development Bank signed an agreement to establish the Clean and Sustainable Ocean Programme, which intends to assist efforts in Asia-Pacific on sustainable oceans and the blue economy.

Safer roads in Serbia

Road fatalities in the Western Balkans claimed nearly 1 300 lives in 2022, according to a speech made at the 7th UN Global Road Safety Week in June 2023.

Notable international experts emphasized Serbia's progress in road safety, including a 27% drop in fatalities between 2011 and 2021. However, the nation continues to have a greater proportion of road traffic deaths per 100,000 people than the EU average (7.5 in Serbia vs. 5.1 in the EU).

The European Union has approved a road safety policy for 2021 to 2030, with the goal of reducing fatalities and serious injuries by half by 2030 and reaching zero road deaths by 2050.

553 persons died in road accidents in Serbia in 2022, with 30 000 lives lost in the previous 30 years.

After the European Investment Bank's new Transport Lending Policy was approved in July 2022, safety became one of four core pillars of its operations and participation in the industry. Since 2021, the Bank has collaborated with three non-governmental organizations to inform and support investments in safer road projects, and in the same year, it signed an agreement with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe to strengthen collaboration in the fields of road safety and climate resilient transport infrastructure.

To date, the European Investment Bank has sponsored about €6 billion in transportation projects in the Western Balkans.

What is natural capital?

Everything that derives from nature, including land, air, water, and all living things, is valued as natural capital.

When companies consume natural resources, the price they pay for doing so does not correspond in a significant way to what they ought to be paying given the harm done to the environment.

Unpriced natural capital is what we refer to when businesses or individuals exploit or abuse nature without being held accountable. Ecosystems can be harmed and the environment can be worsened by this kind of overuse.

When ecosystems or the environment are harmed, society and the economy are also negatively impacted. According to estimates, nature is a major factor in more than half of world output.

According to the World Economic Forum, paying for the use of natural resources and safeguarding biodiversity may result in $10 trillion in yearly economic output and hundreds of millions of new employment in industries like agriculture, fashion, and consumer products.

What it will take to transform development finance

Another 40% of the world's population lives in the nations between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, including the Caribbean and Pacific states, as well as some regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. At the moment, these nations are suffering four times as much loss and destruction from the pandemic and climate change as other regions.

Vera Songwe, Nicholas Stern, and Amar Bhattacharya's estimates indicate that the poor world needs at least $350 billion extra in low-cost financing year to create resilience against pandemic and climate threats. That would necessitate about doubling MDB loans over and above what is already provided to the most vulnerable.

What is an ecosystem service?

Any advantage that humans receive from nature is known as an ecosystem service.

An estimated $125 trillion to $140 trillion is added to the economy each year by all environmental services.

The International Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services stated in a significant 2019 study that one million species face an immediate threat of extinction. Such a distortion of nature will have negative effects.

Over 40% of the territory in the European Union is covered by forests. This region has grown via afforestation by roughly 0.4% year in recent decades. In the European Union, just 60% of the yearly forest growth is harvested.

Nature’s highways

By eliminating 48 000 truck trips annually, a plan to resurrect Lithuania's interior rivers with electric barges might reduce carbon emissions.

Nearly 75% of Lithuania is made up of the Nemunas basin, which is made up of more than 20 000 rivers and rivulets. In the 19th century and even during the Soviet era, when up to three million tonnes of cargo per year was moved along the nation's primary canal, the river was extensively used for freight transportation.

Currently, the LIWA (also known as VVKD in Lithuanian) is developing a strategy to resurrect cargo shipping on the Nemunas. Its fleet of electric ships will travel the 260 km between the port of Klaipda on the Baltic Sea coast and the industrial and transportation centre of Kaunas in the nation's core.

Lithuania exports a lot of grain, roughly five million tonnes annually, and imports the majority of its raw materials and goods.

The project is anticipated to need a €75.7 million initial investment in total:

Six new electric pusher ships and 12 barges that will travel the route will cost €33.0 million.

€ 32.4 million will be spent on the new ships' batteries.

Infrastructure for ports, including cranes, charging stations, and electric grid connections, will cost €10.3 million.

Experts at the European Investment Bank estimate that each round trip made by one of the barges might replace more than 100 truck trips. When the project is fully operational, that will result in approximately 48 000 fewer truck trips annually and a reduction of more than 14 000 tonnes in CO2 emissions.

In order to increase the importance of inland waterway transport, the European Commission presented a 35-point action plan in June 2021. The main goals are to increase the amount of goods moved through Europe's rivers and canals and to speed up the switch to zero-emission barges by 2050. This is in accordance with the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and the European Green Deal, which set the target of boosting inland canal and short-sea shipping by 25% by 2030 and by 50% by 2050.

What is energy efficiency retrofitting?

This retrofitting is carried out in part through intermediary loans. A large organisation, like the European Investment Bank, grants a commercial bank or other financial institution an intermediated loan. This other bank serves as a middleman, leveraging the large loan to provide tiny firms with hundreds of smaller loans.

There are unique EU bank initiatives that offer funds or help for retrofitting. These include the Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas initiative and the European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) project. Numerous residents in County Tipperary who wanted to make energy-efficient house improvements received assistance from an ELENA grant to produce energy audits and feasibility studies.

July & August

Wired for the future

By 2031, Malta hopes to become a digital powerhouse in Europe. The administration established a 10-year economic strategy based on five pillars to accomplish this: infrastructure for sustained economic growth, education, and good governance the surroundings.

How to spend it right

Technical aid enabled the public sector to invest €300 million, assisting Morocco in navigating the COVID-19 situation.

Hospitals in Morocco were crowded in August 2020 as the country battled its first coronavirus pandemic. The European Investment Bank quickly authorised a €200 million loan package to assist the nation in paying for critically required medical equipment, supplies, and staff training.

The Economic Resilience Initiative organised technical support, which was put in place and was essential in distributing the second tranche of €100 million in November 2021. Morocco was able to use the funds swiftly thanks to the technical help.

In 1979, the European Investment Bank started making investments in Morocco. It has invested €9.6 billion since then, including €2.5 billion since 2017.

What is a triple bottom line?

When developing new triple bottom line strategies, socially conscious organisations frequently adhere to ESG guidelines, which stands for environmental, social, and governance.

Conservation and climate change initiatives are included in the ESG's environmental component. Concerns with inequality, inclusivity, and working conditions are included in the social component. Governance is the concept that social and environmental factors must be taken into account when making decisions at the highest levels of a business or governmental agency.

What are connected autonomous vehicles?

Autonomous linked vehicles have the ability to significantly improve air quality, decrease accidents, and manage traffic.

Data-transmission technology in connected cars provide comfort or safety features. For instance, you may set up this kind of vehicle to activate the air conditioning or windscreen heating before you get in. Additionally, a connected automobile can get software upgrades from the cloud to enhance its capabilities or productivity.

Clean ways of movement or movement are referred to as "green mobility."

Gender and climate action

There are still significant differences between financial means of men and women, which makes women more likely than males to die in a natural disaster.

Women working in areas exposed to climate change, specifically agriculture, water or forestry, are also more likely to be affected by climate change and extreme weather. Because of these disasters, young girls also have to be pulled out of school to help the families recover from natural disasters. Countries have also reported rising violence against women and girls after natural disasters, which is why women play a critical role in climate action and leadership.

In a survey conducted by the European Investment Bank on Climate, men were found to be more sceptical about the impact of females in climate action leadership. 50% of women surveyed thought that having more females leaders would make a difference, while only 45% of men thought so.

The results show that in China, 63% of men vs 69% of women were of this opinion,

The study indicated the biggest discrepancy in the UK, where 38% of men and 61% of women agreed that women leaders would effectively combat climate change.

Various research shows that nations with higher proportions of women in parliament are more likely to ratify environmental agreements and implement climate change policy, thus female leaders are more likely to favor climate action and sustainability.

According to research involving the private sector, businesses that have more women on their boards are more likely to increase energy efficiency, lessen their total environmental effect, and invest in renewable energy sources.

Women leaders emphasise good waste management, reducing the loss of water, energy, and resources, according to a new research by the University of Urbino in Italy.

A 2022 EIB study on female entrepreneurs in Europe revealed that businesses managed by women put more effort into reducing emissions and perform better on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) parameters.

The European Investment Fund also discovered that businesses run by women had better ESG ratings than other businesses, spend more in renewable energy sources, and invest less in polluting businesses.

According to the Global Green Skills Report 2022, "there are only 62 women globally for every 100 men considered green talent in 2021."

According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2023, it will take exactly 131 years for the gender gap to close.

A road to peace and EU integration

The Peace Highway is one of the EU's major initiatives in the Western Balkans Economic and Investment Plan. The project's projected cost is €947 million, with more than €140 million in EU funding handled through the Western Balkans Investment Framework. It also receives technical help from the WBIF for the production of feasibility studies and detailed design.

September

No barrier to river biodiversity

The proposal to remove the Molino Bajo and Molino del Cabrillas weirs on the Cabrillas River was awarded the 2022 Dam Removal Europe Award in May 2023 at the international Dam Removal Europe Conference in Manchester.

The European Investment Bank awarded the winning proposal a €10,000 cash reward to be reinvested in future dam-removal initiatives. This is the EU bank's second year participating in the prize.

In Europe, just a few free-flowing rivers exist, and according to Dam Removal Europe, there is about one obstacle for every river km. The WWF, The Rivers Trust, The Nature Conservancy, The European Rivers Network, Rewilding Europe, Wetlands International Europe, and The World Fish Migration Foundation have formed a coalition to restore Europe's rivers and streams to their natural state.

To restore free-flow, the EU Biodiversity Strategy seeks to eliminate unnecessary obstacles across 25 000 miles of river by 2030. Dam Removal Europe helped dismantle 325 dams or other buildings in 2022, a 36% increase over 2021.

River fragmentation, according to European Environment Agency studies, is one of the primary reasons of a cumulative 80% drop in freshwater biodiversity and the loss of 55% of observed migratory fish populations in Europe. With barely one-third of its rivers having "good ecological status," European rivers are most likely the most highly changed of any river system on the planet.

According to the European Commission, at least 150 000 barriers in European rivers are outmoded constructions that no longer serve their intended purpose or are no longer required. River barrier removal is increasingly viewed as a practical, cheap, and desired solution, contributing to the goals of the European Union's Water Framework Directive, which focuses on decreasing and eliminating pollutants while also guaranteeing adequate water for wildlife and human needs.

Europe About Critical Minerals

The global demand for rare-earth elements (REEs) is expected to increase more than fivefold by 2030.

China processes about 90% of the world's REEs and 60% of the world's lithium. As a result, the European Union imports practically all of its rare earth elements from China.

Europe will soon be producing two-thirds of the lithium-ion batteries required for electric vehicles and energy storage.

The EU Critical Raw Materials Act of this year has already set in action the required policy adjustments.

November 2023

Freeing the river

In December 2022, the European Investment Bank signed a €9 million financing agreement with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to remove man-made impediments and restore the river's natural flow. The loan was agreed under the Natural Capital Financing Facility, a financial vehicle established under the European Fund for Strategic Investments by the European Investment Bank and the European Commission.

According to the European Commission, at least 150 000 of the barriers in European rivers are no longer required. River barrier removal is becoming more popular as a desirable, realistic, and cost-effective solution.

Free-flowing rivers were deemed to increase flood danger in the past, therefore they were straightened to remove curves or meanders and made narrower, with extensive use of concrete. River barriers are now proven to exacerbate floods and damage.

Historically, free-flowing rivers were deemed to increase flood danger, therefore they were straightened to remove curves or meanders and made narrower, with extensive use of concrete. River barriers are now proven to exacerbate floods and flood damage.

The take down of various river barriers will have a substantial and long-term impact on Luxembourg's biodiversity and flood control.

https://www.eib.org/en/stories/slovak-high-tech

The European Investment Bank agreed a €70 million intermediated financing arrangement with SGEF in June 2020, allowing the business to make loans to rising young enterprises in Slovakia and Czechia.

99.9% of Slovak firms are small and medium-sized. They account for 73.3% of all jobs in the country.

The EIB Group contributed more than €16.35 billion to small and medium-sized firms in 2022. The EIB Group enters into agreements with a diverse network of commercial banks, state development banks, leasing companies, venture capital firms, and private equity funds to assist small enterprises. The Group focuses on places where the difficulties in obtaining loans is harming the economy.

The European Guarantee Fund of the European Investment Bank has been crucial in providing finance to sound enterprises affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns. In 2021, the EU bank issued a €25 million venture debt financing to Instafreight.

Transport accounts for over a quarter of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions. By far the most polluter is road transport, which accounts for 70% of all emissions.

Breaking silos for gender equality

According to the International Labour Organisation, women continue to be paid around 20% less than males worldwide.

Women account for 25% of all new business owners and directors. At the same time, women are the major carers for their families, as well as the holders of household purchasing power.

Women start more enterprises than males, yet 68% of them need finance.

Women have established firms at a somewhat greater average rate than males in recent years, but female businesses continue to confront financial challenges.

According to the World Bank's 2021 FINDEX database, there is a $1.7 trillion funding gap for formal, women-owned micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises globally, and more than 68% of small women-owned firms have insufficient or no access to financial services.

A road to peace and EU integration

The Peace Highway is one of the EU's major initiatives in the Western Balkans Economic and Investment Plan. The project's projected cost is €947 million, with more than €140 million in EU funding handled through the Western Balkans Investment Framework. It also receives technical help from the WBIF for the production of feasibility studies and detailed design.

Working with nature, not against it

The storms in Greece destroyed 150 houses and badly damaged over 1000 others in the city core and surrounding towns. Following the second storm, life in the three-thousand-year-old city came to a standstill for three days as officials ordered inhabitants to stay indoors and evaluated the safety of the city's 12 bridges spanning the Lithaios river. The cost to the region, renowned as Greece's breadbasket, as well as the birthplace of fabled heroes Achilles and Jason, as well as the home of centaurs and myrmidons, is still being calculated, but it is expected to be in the billions.

Nature-based approaches to flood management in the region, such as widening rivers and connecting them to their floodplains, creating riparian forests, and removing man-made structures built to control or obstruct the flow of rivers, would be far more efficient than relying on new or rehabilitated 'grey' flood protection infrastructure, such as dykes, according to a pilot study.

Research published in May 2023 by the Nature-Based Infrastructure Global Resource Centre and the International Institute for Sustainable Development quantifies and compares the economic, social, and environmental benefits of grey, green, and hybrid infrastructure approaches in the region.

Other advantages of the nature-based approach were evaluated, including greater agricultural productivity and reduced carbon emissions. The carbon storage value of the nature-based method alone, estimated at €12.8 million, would be greater than the cost of implementation (€6.8 million) and the hybrid approach (€9.3 million), according to the analysis.

In the middle of 2023, Ukraine, the European Commission, and the World Bank assessed the cost of reconstruction in the nation at approximately €400 billion. The reconstruction process is projected to take ten years after the conflict.

Boosting learning, saving energy

The reconstruction is being funded by subsidies from the Italian government, European Union money under the PON Metro Italian national plan for metropolitan areas, and a €150 million credit line authorised by the European Investment Bank in February 2023.

The City of Rome is in charge of a large number of educational structures. It contains a total of 1 144 nurseries, kindergartens, primary and high schools. These schools are by far the most energy-intensive public buildings in Rome, accounting for up to 95% of total municipal energy use. An successful energy efficiency scheme might save money while also lowering carbon emissions.

Switching tracks on harassment

In 2020, the Catalan government found out that 17% of all violent activities in the territory occur on public transport, with women accounting for 60% of the victims. 91.6% of women aged 16 to 25 reported being harassed on public transit.

In a municipality near Barcelona, called Santa Coloma de Grammet, awareness days were planned for 400 staff who have regular interactions with passengers. This was part of an initiative known as puntos violetas (purple points), to enable the staff to respond to situations of harrassmnet of LGBTIQ+ phobia. On peak days for travel, purple spots will be installed in seven metro stations.

December

Lower rents and a sustainable city

Approximately 850 families are living in extremely difficult circumstances. Over 120 persons are homeless or living in domestic violence shelters. The city intends to address these issues while also making the city more appealing to newcomers from Lisbon. Loures is launching a project to improve affordable housing, provide low-income assistance programmes, and adapt infrastructure to the danger of climate change.

The European Investment Bank will lend €100 million to fund chosen projects from the Loures strategic multi-year investment plan for 2022-2026. The investment will support the development and renewal of social housing, the building of educational institutions, and waste management improvements. All new and renovated buildings will be environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

This project will build 793 new social housing units and rehabilitate 1 171 existing apartments. The goal is to enhance the living circumstances of the city's most disadvantaged residents while also creating a more inclusive atmosphere for all residents. That means better living circumstances for those who live in Loures' slums, which can lead to other chances such as higher education and employment.

Loures council established a Municipal Action Plan for Climate Change Adaptation in 2021, and the EIB is substantially funding its execution.

Empowering change

According to a study conducted by the European Investment Bank, more than half of European enterprises are investing in climate action, and women-led firms get high environmental, social, and governance rankings. Women's abilities and talents are also required to fill the 24 million new green jobs that will be created by 2030.

Globally, financial flows for climate mitigation and adaptation are estimated to be over $800 billion per year, while requirements are predicted to exceed $4 trillion per year by 2030.

Climate action has the potential to deliver $26 trillion in benefits by 2030 when compared to business as usual. The economic impact of women, who control or have a substantial effect over 85% of consumer expenditure, highlights the enormous development potential in implementing gender-responsive tactics.

Women also have unique expertise and ways that may greatly contribute to climate resilience and mitigation initiatives.

In India, integrating women in forest and energy initiatives is linked to a 28% higher likelihood of forest generation and a 30% rise in sales of off-grid energy solutions.

In February 2023, the European Investment Bank signed investment agreements totaling €270 million with three Tanzanian banks, including the National Microfinance Bank of Tanzania (NMB), which supports women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses in the blue economy, including those focusing on climate action and environmental sustainability.

The European Investment Bank is boosting the availability of renewable energy to homes in Sao Paolo's favelas through a €200 million loan with Enel.

In Spain, the European Investment Bank is assisting the firm Cabify in decarbonising its fleet of taxi cars while raising the proportion of women in the workforce to 50%, primarily to accommodate female clients' desire for more female drivers.

Overview Publications:

Energy overview 2023

Fossil fuels account for around 84% of the energy we use globally. The International Energy Agency estimates that in order to achieve carbon neutrality by the middle of the century, global investments in renewable energy must treble by 2030, reaching over $4 trillion annually.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group has invested about €134 billion in the energy sector of the European Union during the last ten years, in addition to extra funding for renewable energy projects throughout the globe. These initiatives are currently assisting Europe in surviving the crisis brought on by the sudden interruption of Russian gas supply.

The European Union in 2022 signed financial assistance agreements totaling more than €17 billion for projects in energy efficiency, renewable energy, power, and storage. EIB Global, the development arm of the EIB Group, gave more than €2 billion in support for sustainable energy projects outside of Europe in 2022.

According to data from the European Commission, in order to achieve the EU goal of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990, EU-based energy investment has to double from the previous decade to more than €400 billion annually this decade.

This includes the roughly €300 billion in yearly investment required for energy efficiency and the roughly €120 billion required for power networks and renewable energy facilities.

If Europe is to stop depending on Russian gas, additional investments totalling €270 billion in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and power networks would be required by 2030.

The EIB Board of Directors decided to assist REPowerEU in October 2022 by increasing the EIB Group's clean energy finance volumes to previously unheard-of levels. For the following five years, extra investments for businesses and government entities might total up to €30 billion.

According to predictions, the REPowerEU EIB package will attract up to €115 billion in extra investment by 2027, significantly advancing Europe's transformation to a green economy and achieving energy independence.

The EIB contributed over €81 billion to help the energy industry between 2017 and 2022, in line with EU energy policy, which aims to assure access to safe, cheap, and sustainable energy for all Europeans. This comprised nearly €76 billion for initiatives related to power grids, energy efficiency, and renewable energy throughout Europe and other parts of the world.

In 2022, the EIB saw the production of 31 333GWh of power from renewable sources.

Alcazar Energy Partners II, a firm that supports renewable energy projects in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, has received a $75 million investment from EIB Global. The fund, which also got $25 million from the Developing Market Climate Action Fund, is anticipated to support projects that would add over 2 GW of new clean energy capacity and 15,000 construction jobs. By doing this, 3.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced annually, and more than 1 million families will have access to clean energy.

The Tyrrhenian connection, a 1,000 MW twin undersea cable connecting Sicily and Sardinia across the Italian peninsula, will get a €1.9 billion loan from the EIB. The project will lower total supply costs while promoting renewable energy sources, reliable power grids, and energy security. It will also increase connectivity across the areas. In 2022, the loan's initial installment (for €500 million) was agreed upon.

The EIB Global and the Development Bank of Southern Africa have agreed to a €200 million loan to support a new targeted financing initiative aimed at unlocking €400 million for private sector renewable energy investment in South Africa.

The EIB has agreed to lend PGE Poland Grupa Energetyczna SA PLN 2 billion (about €426 million) to restore and develop its power distribution network. The investments are anticipated to boost network capacity, improve network operation, stability, and resistance to harsh weather, promote additional customer connections, and enable the deployment of smart meters and the integration of more renewable energy sources.

The EIB is assisting with the modernization of Vilnius's heat distribution infrastructure through a long-term financing arrangement worth up to €43 million with AB Vilniaus ilumos tinklai. The funding will assist to secure a more stable heat supply for the citizens of Lithuania's capital, with a substantial portion of it going toward updating and expanding the district heating network as well as building a biomass boiler. The investment will cut heat loss and carbon emissions.

With the cooperation of the European Commission, the EIB is co-financing three floating offshore wind farms in France for a total of €210 million. These facilities in the Mediterranean are France's first floating offshore wind farms, each employing a distinct revolutionary technology.

Climate Action and Environmental Sustainability Overview 2023

European Investment Bank funding for climate change and environmental sustainability projects alone totaled €36.5 billion in 2022, accounting for 58% of the EIB's own resource finance. This includes €35 billion for initiatives supporting climate action and €15.9 billion for programs supporting environmental sustainability goals. Projects with combined climate action and environmental sustainability advantages received €14.3 billion in funding.

The EIB will lend the Jordanian government €200 million for its participation to the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project. This is Jordan's largest-ever water investment project's first confirmed finance. It will assist the country in addressing the difficulties of increasingly restricted water resources and adapting to climate change.

The EIF has committed €250 million in collaboration with five equity funds to raise €2.5 billion in climate action and environmental sustainability investment across Europe. The funds will be used to invest in food innovation, water, renewable energy, energy efficiency, the circular economy, and a blue economy that is sustainable.

Team Europe will boost its assistance for drinking water access in Senegal by funding investments made by the national water business SONES. The cash will allow SONES to expedite subsidised connections across Senegal and invest in improving drinking water delivery to 634 000 people in the cities of Saint-Louis, Kaolack, and Kolda. The project will get a €64.5 million loan from EIB Global, as well as a €5.55 million grant from the EU.

The Celtic Interconnector, a 575-kilometer-long 700-MW electrical interconnector, will increase energy supply security and renewable energy exchange between France and Ireland. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €300 million to the project.

The City Climate Finance Gap Fund assists cities in implementing ambitious infrastructure development projects that result in low-carbon, resilient, and liveable communities. It enables investments for local transformation, global climate objectives, and green recovery by providing technical help for early-stage planning and project preparation. The Gap Fund was launched during the 2019 UN Climate Action Conference and will begin operations in September 2020. It is sponsored by Germany and Luxembourg and implemented by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank.

Health Overview 2023

The Bank collaborated with public and commercial entities in Europe and beyond to increase access to COVID-19 vaccinations in poor and middle-income countries. The EIB Group collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and many others to give vaccinations, diagnostics, and treatments to people all over the world.

Researchers believe there is a 47-57% risk of a new pandemic occurring within the next 25 years – a probability that may even increase as global temperatures rise and the population grows.

We are dealing with an increasing number of drug-resistant organisms that have developed novel defense mechanisms, leading to antimicrobial resistance. Infections become difficult, if not impossible, to treat when antibiotics and other antimicrobial medications become ineffective. Medical treatments, especially popular ones like central vein catheters, caesarean sections, and hip replacements, have the potential to be lethal.

The health sector is one of Europe's most labor-intensive industries. In late 2020, it accounted for more than 21 million employment in the European Union when combined with social work. According to the WHO, several countries began the COVID-19 situation with insufficient health and care professionals, inappropriate skill mixtures, and unequal geographical distributions. These issues were worsened by the pandemic.

The financial and political momentum created by the COVID-19 pandemic must be maintained. Meanwhile, the EIB aims to manage ever-increasing costs. Healthcare spending in the EU was 10.9% of GDP in 2020, up one percentage point from 2019. The governments in various countries pay for a major portion of these expenses.

The European Commission expects that spending will increase by €4.7 billion every year until 2060. This is expected to place a strain on government budgets. As a result, governments are seeking for methods to deliver effective, cheap healthcare while also controlling spending. Collaboration across countries, various official entities, the corporate sector, and civil society can maximize output.

Since its inception in 1997, the European Investment Bank has provided over €42 billion in finance for healthcare-related initiatives across the world. Because of COVID-19, funding has been significantly increased in recent years compared to before the pandemic.

In 2022, the EIB will contribute €5.1 billion for health and life sciences initiatives, which will help about 980 million people globally. The European Investment Fund (EIF), a part of the EIB Group that specializes in risk financing for small and medium-sized firms, has committed around €400 million to funds that will boost the health sector.

With backing from the EIB and the European Commission, South Africa's vaccine manufacturer Biovac will be able to research and manufacture additional COVID-19 vaccines. The Bank's first vaccine investment in South Africa is projected to double yearly production capacity at Biovac's Cape Town plant, allow for the creation of viral and bacterial targeted vaccines, and improve Africa's independence in health security and resistance to future pandemics.

The European Investment Bank has also funded Senegal's Institut Pasteur de Dakar and is collaborating with partners in Rwanda and Ghana to mobilize large-scale investment to boost local vaccine development and production capacities.

Every year, more than 300,000 individuals worldwide are killed by blood cancer. Ryvu Therapeutics, a Polish clinical-stage medication research and development business, is working on strategies to reduce that number with the support of European Investment Bank finance. The company won €22 million to expedite the discovery of novel medicines to treat serious blood malignancies and solid tumors. Several of these medicines are already undergoing clinical trials. The finance is made available through the Bank's venture loan instrument, which is designed to meet the unique financing needs of high-growth, creative businesses.

Innovation overview 2023

Europe is lagging behind in R&D investments from the past two decades. The target of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) was meant to be reached by 2020, but the current amount is below this target. This also causes a digital divide among countries since only a few EU Member States have R&D spending.

According to the WEF, 70% of the global economy will be made up of digital technology over the next 10 years. This is a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the tendency to go online.

Comparing the EU market to the United States, in 2020 venture capital funding was seven times lower, the EU having less unicorns. This hampers the EU's transformation into a green and digital economy.

In Greece, the European Investment Bank is supplying a 119 million loan for the period of 25 years. This is going towards the expansion of R&D spending, which will be used to support research centres and scientific equipment, creating 700 full time jobs. 525 positions out of those jobs will be for highly skilled research professionals.

In Turku, Finland, new schools will be refurbished with a 190 million loan provided by the European Investment Bank. This is meant to modernise teaching environments, improve energy efficiency and health and safety protocols of the schools.

The European Investment Bank is providing a 200 million loan to a European cloud provider, with the aim of reaching 100% low-carbon energy by 2025 to limit the use of high-carbon energy by promoting renewable energy and other low-carbon energy sources. This investment is meant to open 15 new data centres by the end of 2024 as well. This company achieves the cloud industry's best ratio in energy efficiency and water consumption.

Microplastics and Micropollutants in Water

According to a research conducted by the Medical University of Vienna, five grams of plastic particles enter each person's gastrointestinal stream on average per week. This is approximately the weight of a credit card.

According to one recent estimate, a person who consumes seafood will ingest 11 000 bits of microplastics per year. Even very minute microplastics have been discovered in human blood.

Global "consumption" of plastics is currently estimated to be 300 million tonnes per year, with around 8 million tonnes ending up in the oceans as macroplastics.

Moreover, approximately 1.5 million tonnes of primary microplastics end up in the seas. Around 98% of this volume is created by land-based activities, with the remaining 2% being generated by sea-based activities.

Stormwater, untreated sewage water (96%) and wind (4%), are the primary conduits for microplastics from land to sea. Synthetic fabrics, tyres, and city dust are the most common sources of microplastics. These three sources account for more than 80% of all microplastic contamination.

Microplastics are being dumped into the world's seas. At the moment, Europe and Central Asia account for around 16% of global microplastics discharge into the seas.

The European Union participates with 10% of the global total, or around 150 000 tonnes of microplastics each year. This is 200 grams per person per year, with significant regional variance in per-capita microplastic creation.

North America is by far the greatest generator per capita, followed by East Asia and Oceania, then Europe and Central Asia.

Microplastics have been discovered in the air, drinking water, and food in recent investigations. A kilo of sugar has 440 microplastics, a kilo of salt contains 110 microplastics, and a litre of bottled water contains 90 microplastics, according to a recent research.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (commonly referred to as "superbugs" in the media) infiltrate the water cycle from farms (73% of all antibiotics used globally are used in animal raising). As a result, wastewater treatment facilities are a vector for the transfer of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans, which is a source of public concern.

In the Netherlands, for example, the clearance rate of numerous micropollutants in wastewater treatment facilities is less than 40%. Although clearance rates for some medicines are high, bacterial treatment – biological breakdown in the secondary treatment process in wastewater treatment facilities — results in the creation of various chemicals, some of which may be harmful in their own right.

The effects of a specific type of micropollutant (endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs) on animals include feminization (the presence of female egg proteins in male fish), growth inhibition, and reduced egg production. Several EDCs have been found in humans (in blood, fat, and breast milk), demonstrating that the effects of micropollutants are not restricted to animals.

There is evidence that EDCs are linked to altered reproductive processes in men and women, an increased risk of breast cancer, aberrant growth patterns and neurodevelopmental delays in children, and alterations in immunological systems.

Other micropollutants, such as polyfluoroalkyl substances (found in cleaning products, Teflon pans, firefighting foams, and other household items), can accumulate and remain in the human body for extended periods of time, resulting in negative health outcomes such as immune system effects, thyroid hormone disruptions, and even cancer.

The European Parliament recently approved the Drinking Water Directive (EU) 2020/2184, which contains additional restrictions on the presence of potentially dangerous compounds in water meant for human consumption (polyfluoroalkyl substances and EDCs).

Although the complete eradication of micropollutants in water is not presently a legal requirement in the EU, Switzerland has previously approved a regulation (in effect since March 2014) to minimize micropollutant loads from wastewater treatment plants serving at least 2 000 people.

Many Member States, including France, Germany, and the Netherlands, are contemplating adding treatments to the usual primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment procedures to reduce micropollutants in treated wastewater. These further water treatments are referred to as the "fourth step or quaternary therapy" combined.

To minimize microplastics in water, conventional wastewater treatment plants must be built, which can remove up to 99% of microplastics from treated wastewater.

Conventional wastewater treatment plants currently service over 90% of the EU population. Continuing implementation of the present and planned Urban Wastewater Treatment Directives would lower the EU's already minor contribution to global microplastics discharge into the oceans.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts that obtaining and maintaining full compliance with the present Urban Wastewater Treatment Regulation in the EU will cost around €30 billion per year in capital investment. This figure does not include extra investment in sludge treatment facilities, which may need to be improved in order to prevent microplastics from entering the soil and potentially reaching the oceans.

According to a study of wastewater treatment facilities in Germany and Switzerland, adding the fourth stage to a wastewater treatment plant with a treatment capacity of 100,000 person equivalents would cost between €70 and €95 per capita, depending on the technology used.

The amount of energy consumed would rise from 5% to 15%. According to a German research, increased energy expenses, as well as additional expenditures for maintenance and treatment items (such as activated carbon), would raise annual running costs by €2.5 to €7.5 per inhabitant.

According to a cost-benefit analysis prepared for the proposed Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, the investment required to implement quaternary treatment in wastewater treatment plants with a capacity of at least 10,000 person equivalents in the EU is estimated to be around €2.6 billion per year.

Sustainable transport overview 2023

The EIB offered an average of €11 billion per year from 2012 to 2022 for green and creative solutions in the transportation industry, supporting climate-friendly initiatives all over the world. In 2022, railway projects received around 32% of overall transport loans, while urban mobility received approximately 37%.

Danish State Railways has received a €500 million loan from the EIB to purchase 100 new electric trains, which will replace diesel-powered trains and enable future development in sustainable passenger traffic.

The EIB has contributed €114.7 million in loans and grants to Madagascar to rebuild important trunk roads. The project intends to update Madagascar's road network and increase regional connectivity and will improve mobility particularly commerce for local residents, companies, and disadvantaged groups.

The new Line 4 in Athens will be driverless, with 35 new stops and five distinct parts, with an aim of lowering carbon emissions.

The EIB has inked a €580 million finance arrangement for Section A of the line, which will include 15 new stations between Alsos Veikou and Goudi.

Florence, Italy, has unveiled a strategy to increase its climate resilience and cut emissions. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Florence with a €200 million framework loan to assist urban renewal, energy efficiency in public buildings, sustainable mobility, and digital infrastructure.

Regional trains connecting Berlin and the neighbouring Brandenburg region are heading towards a zero-carbon future. The European Investment Bank has funded new battery-powered rolling stock for regional train routes. The investment loan of up to €95 million accelerates the transition to sustainable transport.

In 2019, the French region of Occitanie accepted the Green Hydrogen Plan, which provides €150 million to speed the large-scale roll-out of hydrogen-based solutions throughout the territory.

Corridor H2, a project to establish hydrogen distribution stations from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, including on minor routes, has received a €40 million loan from the EIB. Once completed, it is estimated to cut diesel use by 2.6 million tonnes per year.

Surveys:

Climate survey 2022 - 2023

76% of Europeans aged 20-29 believe prospective employers' environmental effect is an essential aspect while job looking, and 22% say it is a top priority.

66% of all European respondents (72% of those under 30) support tougher government actions to compel personal behavior change.

79% of Europeans support labeling all food to help reduce the impact on climate and the environment.

62% of Europeans surveyed claim they would be willing to pay more for sustainable food.

56% support a carbon budget system to limit the most climate-damaging consumption (62% of those under 30).

According to climate survey respondents, climate change is the second most pressing issue confronting Europeans. Over three-quarters of respondents (72%) believe that their individual actions can make a difference in tackling the climate issue.

Many people believe that the government should take a role in fostering individual behavioral changes to engage in climate change mitigation. Two-thirds of Europeans (66%) support harsher government measures requiring people to adjust their behavior in order to combat climate change (72% of respondents under 30 would welcome such restrictions).

While seeking employment, an increasing number of people are looking at businesses' environmental credentials. Over two-thirds of Europeans (62%) believe that future employers should prioritize sustainability. It is even a high priority for 16% of Europeans.

About three-quarters (76%) of persons aged 20 to 29 — often those searching for their first job — believe sustainability is an important element in their choice of company, with 22% stating it is a high priority.

The majority of European respondents (56%) said they would support a carbon budget system that would give each person a certain amount of yearly credits to spend on things with a high carbon footprint (non-essential goods, flights, meat, etc.). In instance, Chinese respondents significantly approve such a move (83%), but Americans support it less strongly, with less than half (49%).

To assist individuals make more sustainable grocery decisions, 79% of Europeans support labeling all food goods with their climate footprint (17 percentage points higher than Americans, who support it at 62%, but 9 percentage points less than Chinese people, who support it at 88%).

Nevertheless, 62% of Europeans say they would be ready to pay somewhat more for food produced locally and sustainably (similar to Americans, at 60%, but 21 percentage points lower than Chinese people, at 83%). All income categories are prepared to spend extra for food (60% of lower-income respondents, 61% of middle-income respondents, and 65% of higher-income respondents).

Reduced intake of meat and dairy products is another effective approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Slightly over half of Europeans (51%) support reducing the amount of meat and dairy products people may buy to combat climate change (11% more than Americans, who support it at 40%, but far lower than Chinese people, who support it at 73%).

Investment survey results

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 86% of EU enterprises were making investments. In 2021 this remained mostly steady compared to 2020 (81%). EU businesses were optimistic for investment throughout 2022, with 20% more anticipating investment to rise than fall.

63% of businesses took some action in response to the pandemic.53% of businesses took action or made investments in digitalization, up from 46% in 2021.

In comparison to 2021, the percentage of companies who reduced their supply chain nearly doubled to 19%.

The shift to greener energy and the adoption of more climate regulations are expected to have a 30% positive impact on businesses, mostly through new business prospects, and a 30% negative impact, according to the same businesses. A little over 40% of businesses do not anticipate the changeover to alter their operations.

Only one-third of EU businesses have taken steps to protect themselves from the physical risks posed by climate change, despite the fact that 57% of EU businesses are concerned about these risks.

The majority of businesses suffered losses in 2020 and/or 2021, with 13% still predicting that they won't be able to recover from the pandemic-era loss of business until 2022.

In response to COVID-19, almost 60% of EU businesses have received financial help of some kind, most often in the shape of subsidies or other non-repayable aid. In response to COVID-19, enterprises that incurred sales losses were more likely to get policy help (about 73% received financial assistance, compared to 47% of firms that did not see any sales declines).

More businesses report having taken action or made investments to become more digital than in EIBIS 2021 (53% vs. 46% in EIBIS 2021). Additionally, the percentage of businesses making an attempt to reduce their supply chains nearly quadrupled (from 10% to 19%).

US companies reported using at least one advanced digital technology (71%), similar to the average usage of 69% across EU organizations.

With 78% and 85% of businesses, respectively, citing these concerns as barriers to investment, uncertainty and a shortage of skills continue to be important long-term roadblocks.

The percentage of businesses indicating that energy prices represent a barrier to investment has increased (82%) when compared to all prior waves of the EIBIS, particularly for those who see it as a significant obstacle (59%). According to varied energy prices and energy intensity across nations and industries, various countries have different percentages of businesses that view energy costs as a key obstacle, ranging from 24% in Finland to 81% in Greece.

Nearly 40% of EU businesses continue to anticipate no impact from the green transition, while the proportion of businesses viewing it as a risk or an opportunity remained roughly balanced (each at around 30%).

About 90% of EU businesses have previously made an effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Approximately 57% of businesses are investing in energy efficiency, 64% in reducing and recycling trash, and 32% in new, less polluting industries and technologies. Roughly 40% of businesses made investments in energy efficiency in 2021.

Only a third of EU businesses have taken steps to increase their resilience to physical climate change hazards, despite the fact that 57% of them believe they will be impacted. While 20% of businesses engaged in or created risk reduction or avoidance strategies, 14% of businesses invested in or created an adaptation plan.

When compared to the final quarter of 2019, investment levels in several nations decreased or were flat in the second quarter of 2022. Denmark, Italy, Ireland, and Sweden are exceptions, with investment levels increasing by more than 10%. Other nations had drops in investment of up to 13%, such as Slovakia and Bulgaria.

A lower percentage of overall spending (16%) went toward the purchase of new goods and services, especially in the construction industry (11%) in 2021-2022.

EU Climate survey 2022 - 2023

Compared to 62% in the United Kingdom, 60% in China, and 52% in the United States, 66% of respondents in the European Union say that the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its effects should make the transition to a green economy faster.

88% of Chinese, 83% of British, and 72% of American respondents, 84% of EU respondents believe that a worldwide catastrophe is inevitable if we do not significantly lower our consumption of products and energy in the next years.

An EU survey conducted on climate and energy consumption in 2022 found that 63% of people in the European Union want energy costs to be dependent on use, with the greatest consumers paying more. This is compared to 83% in China, 63% in the UK and 57% in the US.

The majority of persons polled in an EU survey conducted in 2022 in the European Union and China (80% and 91%, respectively) think that climate change has an impact on their daily life. Meanwhile, Americans (67%) and Britons (65%) have a less extreme picture of this.

In a climate survey conducted in the European Union and the United Kingdom, 87% of respondents agree that their government has moved too slowly to address climate change, compared to 76% and 74%, respectively, in China and the United States.

A small percentage of British, EU, and American respondents (30%, 36%, and 45%, respectively) believe that their governments will be successful in significantly decreasing their carbon emissions by 2030. Chinese respondents are far more optimistic, with 91% predicting that their government will be successful.

The majority of respondents to a survey conducted in 2022 from the EU (66%), the UK (62%) and China (60%) think that the conflict in Ukraine and its effects on the cost of oil and gas should make the transition to a green economy faster. A slim majority of Americans (52%) agree, while 48% believe that the war should actually hinder the country's move to a greener economy.

47% of respondents to a European survey from the European Union and the United Kingdom (45%) want their government to focus on the development of renewable energies. This is compared to 37% in both the United States and China when asked to list their priorities on energy.

Diversifying energy sources should be a top priority, according to respondents from China (46%), compared to respondents from the European Union (34%), the United Kingdom (35%), and the United States (39%). Support for the two choices of expanding renewable energy sources (37%) and diversifying energy suppliers (39%) is more evenly distributed among American respondents.

Third place goes to energy savings, with 24% of Americans surveyed believing that people and businesses should do more to cut their own usage (compared to 20% in the UK, 19% in the EU, and 17% in China).

Compared to 84% in China, 66% in the United States, and 52% in the United Kingdom, 64% of EU respondents want polluting activities like air travel and SUVs to be taxed more heavily to account for their environmental impact.

Compared to 29% in the UK, 24% in China, and 23% in the United States, 40% of respondents from the European Union believe that the government should first lower energy-related taxes. British, Chinese, and American respondents (46%, 38%, and 29%, respectively) favor other measures more than EU respondents (28%), such as capping or controlling the price of gas, oil, and coal.

Finance in Africa pub

424 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were reportedly living in severe poverty in 2019. In 2022, 460 million people—an increase of 36 million in only three years—were anticipated to be living in extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic and the war.

Sub-Saharan Africa's government debt rose from 28% of gross domestic product in 2012 to 50% of gross domestic product in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic caused it to rise to 57% of gross domestic product in 2021.

Sub-Saharan Africa was severely harmed when government revenue declined from 22% of GDP in 2011 to 17% in 2021. 15 African nations are at significant risk of default, and 7 are currently in financial crisis according to the IMF.

The region went on to receive IMF Special Drawing Rights of $23 billion in 2021 to assist critical public spending.

The United Nations estimates that, considering the continent's population growth, yearly funding of $1.3 trillion would be needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa. The International Monetary Fund also estimates that $50 billion may be needed only to cover the expenses of climate adaptation.

At 76% of gross-domestic product in 2019, West Africa has the lowest financial integration. In East Africa and Central Africa, respectively, financial integration is at 105% and 114% of the gross domestic product. On the other extreme, Southern Africa's financial integration surpasses that of other areas at about 400% of the gross domestic product.

Less than 5% of East and Central Africa's gross domestic product was made up of total portfolio liabilities in 2019, which are more susceptible to capital flight than foreign direct investment.

West Africa went from roughly 5% of gross domestic product in 2016 to over 10% of gross domestic product in 2019.

To put this in perspective, the ratio is 22% in East/Southeast Asia and 23% in South America, indicating that Africa draws far less of this form of finance. Again the exception, Southern Africa's portfolio liabilities for 2019 are 54% of gross domestic product.

African green issuers are dependent on demand from high-risk investors who are particularly sensitive to changes in market sentiment because of the continent's high sovereign risk.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, African private investment was steady in 2020, rising to $4.3 billion from $3.9 billion in 2019 as pipeline and current transactions were closed.

Deal value increased once more in 2021, reaching $6.3 billion, up 48% from 2020. The venture capital sector, which saw deal value rise from $485 million in 2020 to $3.23 billion in 2021, was mostly responsible for the increase in investment. About half of this investment was made in FinTech.

According to a survey conducted in 2022, the percentage of banks offering digital products or services ranges from at least 80% in Central Africa to more than 95% in West Africa (mostly driven by Nigeria). The top three most often requested services are domestic money transfers (87%), receiving payments from clients (85%), and paying bills or suppliers (79.6%).

At 76% of gross-domestic product in 2019, West Africa has the lowest financial integration. In East Africa and Central Africa, respectively, financial integration is at 105% and 114% of the gross domestic product. On the other extreme, Southern Africa's financial integration surpasses that of other areas at about 400% of the gross domestic product.

Nearly 30% of banks questioned in a survey conducted on banks in Africa in 2022 found no differences between male and female portfolios in the rates of default and non-performing loans. In addition, four out of ten banks discovered that the non-performing loan rates for enterprises run by women are lower than the portfolio average.

Between 2019 and 2021, loan portfolios at microfinance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa grew by nearly 30% cumulatively, outpacing growth in other regions of the world.

Africa's overall FinTech sector has expanded quickly. There were more over 1000 active businesses as of April 2022, up from 450 in 2020.

80% of these are indigenous, and 20% are imported from outside of Africa. Although the industry has expanded, payments and loan services are still the most popular items. Software solutions and the application of blockchain technology are key development areas. The market share held by other products—which cover a wide range of industries, including cybersecurity and regtech—has also increased

Due to their reliance on the extraction of fossil fuels, economies in Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Angola, and Mozambique are particularly vulnerable. The cost of environmental deterioration is likewise quite high for African nations.

In 2019, ambient particulate matter pollution in Africa resulted in at least 383 000 early deaths, according to new estimates of the cost of air pollution in the continent. This increased from 3.6% in 1990 to around 7.4% of all premature deaths in the area.

For resource-intensive (commodity-exporting) nations, real per capita GDP is anticipated to stay below pre-pandemic levels until at least 2024, with growth of barely 1% per year in 2022 and 2023. Before the pandemic, 2% or more of growth had been anticipated.

EIB Group activities in EU cohesion regions

The Recovery and Resilience Facility is a programme implemented by the European Commission to lessen the economic and social effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The European Commission also aims to improve the sustainability, resilience and preparedness of European economies and societies for the green transition and digital transformation.

The war in Ukraine is predicted to result in an economic shock, slowing economic growth, accelerating inflation and largely affecting the post-COVID-19 economic recovery of the European Union.

vulnerable households, who have also suffered the most from the pandemic, will be more affected by the increase in food and energy prices brought on by the conflict and associated sanctions towards Russia.

Due to rising interest rates and slower development brought on by the war's aftermath and associated uncertainties, financing limitations run the danger of getting worse, especially for businesses and municipalities that already have a harder time getting loans. In light of this, EU policy tools like the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and Cohesion Policy Funds can be quite useful in stabilizing investment.

Given the expanded geographic scope of the European Union's cohesion policy, the Bank increased its cohesion lending ambitions, with an orientation of 40% of its total EU lending to be located in cohesion regions, aiming to reach 45% by 2025, using reasonable endeavours, and a key performance indicator (KPI) of 20% of total EU lending to be located in less developed regions, rising to 23% by 2025.

55% of the EIB's funding in cohesion areas contributes to the horizontal policy aim of climate action and environmental sustainability, compared to 52% of the Bank's overall EU lending.

Investment in new urban infrastructure, schools, or flood defenses, for example, will result in the employment of construction workers in a specific location throughout the construction phase. The new operations signed by the Bank in cohesion regions in 2021 are estimated to produce 263 000 person-year equivalent employment throughout the course of their execution.

Croatia had begun work on digitalizing its schools through a countrywide digitalization effort managed by CARNET, the Croatian National Research and Education Network. In a pilot initiative, 920 instructors and over 6 000 pupils from 151 schools received computers, tablets, and presentation equipment, as well as improved connection and teacher training. When the pandemic struck, pilot schools were ready to begin offering online programs within two days.

More than 1300 primary, secondary, and art schools in Croatia are expected to be entirely digitalized by the end of 2023. Furthermore, about 20 000 teachers and other educational personnel will be trained. The goal is to not only give IT equipment to all Croatian schools, but also to educate instructors and generate digital instructional material, boosting the digital maturity level of Croatian schools.

The European Union supported both rounds of the project, which got a Regiostars Award from the European Commission for the finest cohesion policy projects in the category of "Skills & Education for a Digital Europe." The European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund contributed nearly €150 million to the second stage alone. And the EIB has been involved from the start.

Every year, hospitals in Bucharest treat 60 000 patients from other cities where patients must travel considerable distances for treatment – a drive from Iasi or Cluj to Bucharest might take up to seven hours. The EIB is collaborating with the Romanian Ministry of Health to establish three new regional emergency hospitals and improve patient care. When the facilities are operational, people will be able to obtain treatment considerably closer to home, greatly decreasing inequities in healthcare access.

Empresa Geral do Fomento (EGF Group) manages over 65% of the municipal trash generated in Portugal and serves 6.3 million people — almost 60% of the Portuguese population.

The EIB loan of €75 million aided in the implementation of many investments geographically distributed across the service regions served by the firm and its 11 operating subsidiaries. The project enhances fundamental garbage services in Portugal in accordance with EU directives and long-term local norms.

The initiative specifically assists EGF Group in improving its service in northern Portugal, a less developed region of the nation that benefits from EU cohesion measures. It also intends to create a new method of recycling packaging trash and to generate renewable energy from biowaste.

Prior to 2021, the garbage placed in landfills passed all essential inspections but received little treatment. Important resources and energy were not recovered, and the dumps were an annoyance to nearby communities. The Resulima Waste Recovery Unit is a new plant that treats, recovers, and disposes of municipal waste.

EGF Group's new waste management plant automatically separates garbage from the time it arrives at the landfill. The mechanical treatment unit separates everything that can be recycled and processes biowaste from all urban waste. The new factory can be a step forward in keeping up with population expansion and how to service a larger number of rural areas.

Supporting the growth of the private sector is critical to assisting poor regions in catching up with wealthy areas, since it creates new job possibilities and eliminates inequities.

A sizable portion of the EIB's SME lending in 2021 was done through the European Guarantee Fund (EGF). The 540 billion euro EU recovery plan that was adopted in 2020 includes the EGF in full. With roughly €25 billion in donations from EU Member States, it was founded by the EIB Group.

To protect businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the Bank offered SME and mid-cap credit under the EGF in the form of loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, equity, and other financial instruments. With the help of the EGF, SMEs with viable business plans may obtain the funding they need to overcome challenges brought on by COVID-19, and thriving companies can receive the assistance they require to expand.

Credit for Agricover In Romania, IFN works with more than 15% of all professional farmers and funds the agricultural industry. Through a fully integrated business strategy focused on meeting the fundamental business needs of farmers, it provides agribusiness and financial services to farmers.

Nearly seven million people are employed by small businesses in Poland, which accounts for around half of the country's GDP, yet smaller businesses are less likely than larger ones to invest in strategies to combat climate change or boost energy efficiency.

In October 2021, the European Investment Bank (EIB) decided to finance up to €75 million to Bank Ochrony rodowiska, a Polish bank that specializes in funding environmental protection initiatives, in order to reach these small enterprises, many of whom are situated in less developed geographical regions.

With the help of the loan, the Polish bank will be able to raise the amount it contributes to initiatives supported by small and medium-sized enterprises (companies with fewer than 250 workers), mid-caps (companies with up to 3 000 employees), homeowners organizations, and government agencies.

At least 50% of the loan will be used for initiatives with a clear emphasis on tackling climate change, such improving building energy efficiency or turning to renewable energy sources like solar power. The money will be distributed across the whole nation, with around 80% of it projected to go to cohesive regions.

The European Commission predicted in 2020 that extra investment of €260 billion year, or around 2% of EU GDP, would be needed to meet the 2030 climate and energy objectives. Since then, the aim for reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the year 2030 has grown (from -40% to -55%), necessitating both more investment and the acceleration of some expenditures.

Particularly transitional regions appear to profit from investments in more developed regions. It can explain up to 34% of the impact on GDP and 47% of the impact on employment in some circumstances.

The EIB was given a mandate by the regional government of Andalusia to establish and operate an innovative guarantee fund of up to €50 million in order to support the growth of Andalusia's agricultural and agrifood industries. This financial tool aims to improve financial circumstances, increase access to credit, and maintain and expand employment prospects in this cohesive zone. The Andalusia regional government and the European Agricultural Support for Rural Development jointly fund the guarantee fund.

In southern Italy (the so-called "Mezzogiorno"), which contains eight cohesion areas, a public-private partnership known as SMEI Italy serves as a catalyst for private investment and supports economic growth and employment creation. Sicily, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Abruzzo, Basilicata, and Campania.

Over €1 billion in finance has been catalyzed in these eight locations to far, supporting almost 5 000 SMEs and small mid-caps.

Infrastructure Solutions

There are 2.3 billion people who reside in nations with water scarcities, which means that each individual receives less than 1 700 m3 of water annually. However, 380 billion m3 of municipal wastewater are produced globally each year.

It is anticipated that wastewater production would rise by 24% by 2030 and by 51% by 2050.

In industrialized countries, the wastewater industry has begun to recognize the potential of wastewater treatment plants to serve as water resource recovery facilities.

Currently, without sufficient treatment, more than 80% of all wastewater generated globally is released into the environment. High-income nations treat, on average, 70% of the wastewater they produce, according to UN Water.

In higher middle-income nations, this ratio falls to 38%, whereas in lower middle-income countries, it falls to 28%. Only 8% of wastewater produced in low-income nations receives any sort of treatment.

Fresh water makes up less than 3% of the world's water resources, and just 1% of that is readily available. Even though fresh water is scarce, just 3% of it is extracted for human consumption. The remaining water is mostly used for agriculture, which uses roughly two thirds of all fresh water.

Reclaimed water can offer a viable and effective alternative where freshwater supplies are scarce. Reclaimed water is wastewater that has undergone treatment to fulfill a particular requirement for water quality for a particular application. There are many uses for this water's reuse, but there are two primary categories: non-potable reuse and potable reuse.

Non-potable reuse is the practice of using recovered water for uses other than drinking, most commonly irrigation in agriculture. Additionally, reclaimed water is utilized for street cleaning, irrigation of urban green spaces, and industrial processes.

Reclaimed water is utilized to maintain or increase lake levels, restore wetlands, and restore river flows during hot weather and droughts, protecting biodiversity. Reclaimed water has the advantage of being a consistent source of water supply that is unaffected by seasonal droughts and weather changes.

Using recycled water to supplement natural drinking water sources is referred to as indirect potable reuse. This may have been planned or just happened.

The injection of recovered water into the water supply distribution system is known as direct potable reuse, on the other hand. However, drinking recovered water is not a typical practice.

The capital of Namibia, Windhoek, has been using recovered water for fifty years. Approximately 30% of the city's 400 000 residents' present drinking water supply is made up of reclaimed water.

Reclaimed water provides 40% of Singapore's water requirements. Using the nation's NEWater technology, cleaned water is recycled to create ultra-clean, premium reclaimed water. Up to 55% of Singapore's water demand is anticipated to be satisfied by NEWater by 2060.

Water shortage is a problem in Israel, however it has managed to ensure the availability of clean drinking water for its citizens, but also to have a surplus of water that it sells to nearby nations like Jordan. Israel has been able to do this by utilizing desalination, reclaimed water, and other non-traditional water sources in addition to its natural supplies. Its 86m3 renewable yearly water per capita is far less than the 500m3 threshold that characterizes extreme shortage.

Almost 90% of the nation's wastewater effluent, or almost 50% of all the water used by farmers nationally, is today processed for reuse in agriculture. Because freshwater is so limited, drinking and other household needs take precedence over the use of recovered water for agriculture.

Israel produces 85% of the country's drinkable water, which is distributed by municipal and regional utilities, via large-scale desalination of saltwater and brackish water. The sixth desalination plant in the nation and one of the biggest in the world to employ reverse osmosis is Sorek II, which is sponsored by the European Investment Bank.

22% of the world's phosphorus needs could be satisfied by recycling residential wastewater.

Near Chicago, Illinois, the biggest nutrient recovery facility in the world is operational. More than 85% of the phosphorus and up to 15% of the nitrogen in wastewater streams may be recovered by its phosphorus recovery technology.

The energy used by the wastewater treatment sector, which makes up around 0.8% of all power produced in the European Union, is substantial.

Research on the energy that may be recovered from municipal wastewater points to a far bigger potential for thermal energy (80% of energy recovered) than for chemical energy (20%). Just 1% of the embedded energy comes in the form of hydraulic energy, which is a relatively modest percentage. This suggests that a sizable amount of the energy that may be extracted from wastewater is now underutilized.

Water that is fit for use is recycled water that has undergone a particular designed treatment to satisfy the needs of its intended end-use. Depending on how it will be utilized again, the water's quality will change.

In the European Union, 0.8% of total energy consumption goes to wastewater treatment facilities. All of these plants might become self-sufficient thanks to energy recovery technology.

By 2023, a new EU agriculture law may raise water reuse by six times, from 1.7 billion m3 to 6.6 billion m3, and cut water stress by 5%.

The European Union needs to make extra investments of €90 billion in the water and waste sector to meet its 2030 climate and energy goals. However, wastewater resources can be useful. In the European Union, an estimated 60–70% of wastewater's potential value is still untapped (that is, heat, energy, nutrients, minerals, metals, chemicals, etc.).
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Public transport

Nicosia's residents rely on private motorized transportation to go around the city. With more than 629 automobiles per 1,000 people, Cyprus has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world, yet the country uses very little green transportation. Only 3% of journeys in the Greater Nicosia urban region are made by public transportation. Cycling is considerably less common—2%.

Continuous traffic worsens individuals' health and detracts from the city as a location to do business, shop, and live by increasing air pollution, noise, and reducing road safety.

As a form of transportation in a contemporary city, tram systems have several advantages. They take up less room, which means increased mobility through other means of transportation, such as bike networks. It also leaves more space for pedestrians and bikers.

Tram systems can be successful when located in a city that has an existing culture of public transport use, places that do not have bus systems, and places with policies around public transport use.

Authorities in Nicosia commissioned JASPERS, a technical assistance program run by the European Investment Bank and the European Commission, to provide an unbiased assessment of the project's execution, in 2018.

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Sustainable transport

The main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union is transportation. In 2019, it contributes to about 31% of global emissions and 24% of emissions in the EU. In addition, up to the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions have only increased in the transport economic sector.

The transportation industry is struggling to achieve sustainability. On the one hand, it still relies almost totally on fossil fuels; in 2019, about 95% of the fuel came from fossil sources.

The outdated transportation systems in many countries are threatened by climate change and the constant change in weather conditions.

The European Investment Bank and the European Commission in 2016 created the Cleaner Transport Facility, aimed at financing cleaner transportation vehicles and essential infrastructure for charging and refueling facilities. The goal was to finance electric and hybrid vehicles, of which 15,000 in European countries received funding. Italy, Spain and Slovakia also received funding for the construction of charging stations for electric vehicles.

Over an eight-year period, the global cash flows for assets related to the environment, society, and governance quadrupled, reaching $40.5 trillion in 2020. Private investors still encounter significant barriers to entry, though.

PPPs are a crucial instrument for fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors. According to a European Investment Bank research, such agreements enable effective delivery and a better level of infrastructure since they provide advantages to both parties.

PPPs enable private enterprises to engage on significant and lucrative infrastructure projects while also assisting in gaining access to capital, technology, and experience as well as lowering the cost and hazards of huge projects. These considerations led the Bank to support eight PPPs in the transport sector between 2020 and 2021.

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Purchase agreements

According to the International Energy Agency, renewable energy sources like wind and solar power are now a commonplace source of electricity, making up 70% of all new investments made in the world's power generation.

More than 137 firms in 32 countries reported the signing of power purchase agreements in 2021, under which electricity producers sell their production to energy utilities or corporate end users for a certain length of time.

According to BloombergNEF, firms acquired 31.1 gigatonnes of sustainable energy through long-term contracts in 2021. The trend is led by US technology corporations.

Amazon has signed power purchase agreements with 44 renewable energy projects in nine different countries, totaling 6.2 GW in 2021 alone, following its commitment to power its facilities with 100% renewable energy by 2030 and zero carbon emissions by 2040.

PPAs are more prevalent in the United States. However, in recent years, this type of financing has gained pace in the European Union, where it has been utilized to fund about 9 GW of output, headed by significant contracts in Spain and Scandinavia.

One issue limiting PPA acceptance in Europe is corporates' restricted capacity to expose themselves to power market risks.

PPAs are also becoming more popular in Germany and the Netherlands. The maturity of these four locations in the renewable PPA market is attributed to competitive energy technologies, the presence of a considerable number of sizeable offtakers, and a strong inclusion of sustainability into the corporate strategy of these regions.

While meeting European renewable energy and climate objectives would need widespread public support across Member States, PPAs might play an important role in project financing in the future. They not only allow for more renewable capacity to be financed and corporates to lock in their future electricity bills, but they may also help the renewables sector to innovate further, as private offtakers may have different requirements and bring in different expertise than public support schemes.

The European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET) has released a set of CPPA Standard Documentation. Further research in this area is anticipated to benefit the PPA industry.

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Digital

Across Africa, an estimated 900 million people are still not connected to the internet; for those who are, connectivity fees remain generally expensive, and bandwidth is severely constrained in many locations.

Only 0.4% of the African population has a fixed-broadband subscription. The majority of internet users use it through mobile broadband.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people who were not connected to the internet lost access to health care and education. Production in all industries was seriously harmed.

The Global Gateway, the EU's initiative to assist infrastructure development throughout the world, plans to raise €300 billion for connectivity projects, including those in the digital sector, between 2021 and 2027.

The number of mobile customers in Africa is expanding faster than everywhere else. By rapidly linking entrepreneurs, startups, and enterprises with existing and future clientele, digital platforms are creating possibilities for them. Mobile financial services also allow for immediate payment of products and services.

Mobile technology is the primary infrastructure for telecom services in Africa, with operators focusing their efforts on it. In certain markets, mobile networks handle up to 99% of voice and data traffic. Fixed-line infrastructure is slower, more expensive, has a larger reach, and has fewer difficulties.

When compared to 4G networks, the high frequencies employed by 5G technologies necessitate greater expenditure. Because short wavelengths have a lower ability to penetrate solid surfaces like as walls, window equipment must be positioned closer to clients, and additional base stations must be placed closer to customers.

The return on investment decreases when population density decreases or geographical limits result in greater expenditures. As a result, the market in many African nations fails to offer some geographic areas with strong economic and social returns on connection services.

An EIB loan of €25 million for an undersea cable would strengthen Mauritania's digital link with the rest of the globe. The 600 km cable will help the country's economic resilience by decreasing the risks associated with loss of connectivity through current systems and providing digital access to more people.

On the eastern coast of the continent of Africa, the Africa Coast to Europe cable connects Gibraltar to South Africa and lands in Gulf of Guinea nations, allows for more access to connectivity. The Eastern African Submarine System, a 10,000km cable network, is another example.

Urban mobility

Many people began teleworking during the pandemic, however teleworking has only been suitable for a tiny group of workers. Highly educated workers, usually in white-collar professions have been able to telework more than other working environments. For those still commuting to work despite the pandemic or other factors, transport remains vital.

According to the French statistical agency INSEE, 3% of the French labor force frequently teleworks. 2% of French workers travel fewer than 5 kilometers from their home to work, and 8% must travel more than 50 km.

At the start of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for public transportation in the top EU economies declined just 20% according to Google Mobility Reports.

Traffic to key transportation hubs fell by 30%-40%, while traffic to workplaces fell by 20%-30%.

According to a global poll conducted by transit app Moovit in 2021, up to one-third of people in some places have ceased utilizing public transportation due to the pandemic. This tendency has been observed in cities other than Berlin.

Because of COVID-19 concerns, 34% of individuals in the Greek city of Thessaloniki stopped utilizing public transportation, and over 70% stated they would prefer more buses on the road to reduce the possibilities of cars being overcrowded.

Public transportation accounts for approximately a quarter of all carbon emissions in Europe, and future investments must prioritize shifting transportation systems away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner energy. Using new technologies can enable communities to design and rebuild in a more environmentally friendly manner.

The pandemic's impact on urban public transportation means revenue declines will put a strain on operators' finances and may cause creditworthiness to worsen. Governments might be forced to subsidize operators with financial transfers, in turn reducing resources available for investment in greener transportation systems.

Infrastructure Solutions: Tugging turbines out to sea

A wind turbine's center of gravity is quite high after it is placed on a floater. A 600-ton steel structure hangs 100 meters over the water.

The eastern Pyrenees' immediate surroundings have little industry and a close to 10% unemployment rate. An opportunity to "revitalise the area's economy" was presented by shifting the port's operations toward renewable energy (in Port la Nouvelle).

The French government intends to double the farms' capacity by 2030, building a 250 MW floating wind park in the Golf of Lion that would eventually supply electricity for more than 400 000 people. Off the coast of Marseille, another floating wind farm of a same scale is proposed.Port la Nouvelle will help the wind farms with infrastructure and assistance as part of a larger regional plan to establish a center for renewable energy. To promote the developing wind power sector, a coalition named Wind'Occ has together 170 businesses, 25 academic institutions, and labs from the area.

Green hydrogen has become more common in France. A €150 million Green Hydrogen Plan was established in 2019, and it calls for building the infrastructure necessary to create, store, and distribute hydrogen as well as using the fuel to power local transportation systems like buses and trains. Corridor H2, a similar initiative, will create a network of hydrogen distribution facilities in Occitania along the route between the Mediterranean and the North Sea. The Corridor H2 project will get a €40 million loan from the EIB.

Infrastructure solutions: Power for clean energy innovation

The majority of Europe's energy demands are still met by importing 90% of its oil and over 60% of its gas, with several nations still getting a significant portion of their energy from Russia.

Novel energy carriers like hydrogen will probably need new specialized infrastructures. While some of what we now have may be repurposed and modified, new energy investments will be required.

Significant volumes of decarbonized electrical energy will be needed to decarbonize the global economy. Demand is generated by conventional electrical energy-based applications, the electrification of energy-intensive sectors, transportation and heating, and indirect electrification using hydrogen and synthetic fuels.

Offshore wind is anticipated to be crucial. This is due to the quantity of installed capacity needed to supply energy to both domestic and foreign markets. Its substantial resource potential is the ideal counterbalance to the dwindling number of onshore or near-shore locations. Fixed-bottom turbines may be installed in a seabed depth of around 60 meters since offshore wind power has already reached an industrial stage. (This also minimizes the financial effect)

Electricity will overtake other energy carriers by 2050, accounting for almost 50% of total energy consumption (up from 22% in 2015). Given the limitations of using solely electricity, clean hydrogen has significant potential in a number of industries.

By 2050, the energy requirement for transportation might be satisfied by hydrogen and synthetic fuels between 20% and 30%.

If energy-intensive businesses like chemicals, fertilizers, ceramics, steel, and non-ferrous metals invest significantly in R&D, its usage in industry might amount to between 5% and 20% of all energy used.

Fixed-bottom turbines may be installed in a seabed depth of around 60 meters since offshore wind power has already reached an industrial stage. This benefits from stronger and more reliable winds without having any negative effects on other economic operations.

Light-duty cars in particular are a prime candidate for decarbonization using battery technology. 25% of the world's CO2 emissions still originate from the transportation sector.

Stationary batteries can assist in bridging the gap between intermittent demand and supply. They will assist in: The development of smart grids, more effective everyday network operations, including the integration of renewable energy sources and the planning of future network investments that are more affordable.

Batteries are anticipated to be crucial in the long run for controlling the fluctuation of renewable energy generating sources like wind and solar. When there is a surplus of power produced, they will store it and release it when there is a high demand.

There are several ways to expand the use of hydrogen as a tool for combating climate change, the first being through electrolysis, which produces power from renewable sources without emitting greenhouse gases, and secondly through collecting, utilizing and storing CO2 emissions from the creation of hydrogen from natural gas, coal, or even biomass.

By 2050, the energy requirement for transportation might be between 20% and 30% satisfied by hydrogen and synthetic fuels.

Hydrogen has the potential to be long-term stored in the electricity and heating industries.

Batteries can be a solution to phasing out fossil fuels as they were first used to power phones and computers decades ago. They are currently also utilized to power homes and automobiles. The rise in lithium-ion battery technology made electric automobiles economically and technically feasible for commercial use. The next stages will be to invest in and create utility-scale storage, which will fill in the gaps left by the intermittent nature of wind and solar energy, along with hydrogen and other clean fuels.

Infrastructure Solutions: Built for women

For every 100 males aged 50 and older, there are currently 113 and 122 women, respectively. Additionally, there are a rising number of homes headed by a single woman in cities.

Women's thoughts and opinions remain underrepresented in urban leadership globally; they account for fewer than 5% of mayors and only around 10% of the top positions at prestigious architecture companies.

The municipality of Bologna and the European Investment Bank are focusing on inclusion and employment of women as a priority in urban infrastructure services. Additionally, the Bank is providing no-cost technical help to create certain metrics that will track the effect of these actions on gender equality.

According to the International Labour Organization, women's involvement in the labor force declines by 16.5% in developing nations as a result of unsafe public transportation.

Many women found it difficult to go around the Bangalore metro in India due to the genuine threat of harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of violence. The building of a fast transit route and the acquisition of 96 train carriages were co-financed by the European Investment Bank with consideration given to the requirements of women. Two carriages on each train are now designated exclusively for female passengers, adding another security precaution that is crucial when the line is backed up.

33% of the drivers and station controllers in the Bangalore metro are female in an effort to create a more welcoming and diverse workplace. Children of employees have access to childcare facilities, while women drivers can work at stations near to their homes and have access to a separate recreation area. If women are unable to perform night shifts, they work in the mornings or evenings.

The 2X Challenge criteria for its investments were adopted by the European Investment Bank as the first multilateral development bank in 2019. These guidelines have made sure that the Bank will fund initiatives and individuals promoting gender equality.

Research supports the crucial role women play in leading climate action: nations with more female parliamentary representation are more likely to ratify environmental accords and pass laws that deal with the implications of climate change.

The European Investment Bank is assisting Mongolia in converting Ulaanbaatar's climate-vulnerable neighborhoods into affluent, climate-resilient, and inclusive eco-districts. Plans call for constructing 10,000 houses in 20 brand-new, environmentally friendly neighborhoods with top-notch amenities, open spaces, and easy access to businesses and employment.

Women-led families in Mongolia will have preferential access to the new green affordable housing, and 40% of workplaces and at least 40% of green mortgage loans will go to women-led companies.

Regional Cohesion in Europe 2021-2022

EU cohesion policy has a €392 billion budget for 2021–2027, hoping to promote economic development and job creation. Additionally, the money may help communities and nations get ready for the opportunities that the European Union's transition to a more sustainable and digital economy would provide.

Despite the large investment requirements of the EU, cohesion areas continue to have lower investment rates. Only 77 % of businesses in transitional regions and 75% of those in less developed regions invested, compared to 79% of businesses in more developed regions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalization throughout Europe. However, there is a discrepancy between businesses in more developed locations and less developed regions.

Businesses in cohesion regions are more concerned about the pandemic's consequences. Companies in affected areas anticipate long-term effects on their supply chain from the outbreak. A bigger proportion of businesses anticipate permanent employment losses as a result of the digitalization transformation brought on by COVID-19.

Companies in cohesion regions are less likely to spend money on the types of intangible assets, like R&D or training. Businesses in cohesive regions tend to concentrate their investments more on purchasing real estate, machinery, and other tangible assets.

Only 28% of investments are made in intangible activity in less developed areas, compared to 35% in transitional areas and 39% in more developed areas.

Between wealthier and poorer EU regions, there is a big divide between businesses that seek innovation. In 54% of less developed regions and 57% of transitional regions businesses are not seeking to innovate. In wealthier regions, 48% of businesses are not seeking to innovate.

Compared to just 53% of businesses in transitional regions and 59% of businesses in less developed regions, 63% of businesses in more developed regions have embraced at least one sophisticated digital technology.

Additionally, businesses all throughout the European Union point to a shortage of trained labor as a deterrent to investment. Finding qualified workers is a problem, according to a significant majority of businesses, 79%, in both less developed and more developed locations.

In all regions, bank loans are the most prevalent type of external financing. In less developed regions, they account for 49% of finance, in more developed regions, 58%, and in transitional regions, 69%. Grants make up a larger portion of the financing in less developed areas.

Financial limitations are more common in less developed areas, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in these regions are more than twice as likely (11%) than their counterparts in transition and non-cohesion zones (5% for both) to report having financial difficulties.

Companies in less developed areas report that climate change is having a big impact on their business in 27% of cases, while 40% have a slight impact.

19% of firms in transition regions claim that climate change is significantly affecting their business, while 43% believe climate change has a minor effect.

The least concerned businesses are those in more developed areas about climate change. Only 16% believe it will have a significant impact, and 38% believe it would have a minimal impact.

Less developed regions also have the lowest percentage of businesses who have made investments to combat climate change or reduce their carbon emissions (46%). It is becoming more challenging for businesses to carry out these investment plans due to the stalling economic recovery and the effects of the war in Ukraine.

Comparatively, 25% of transitional and 21% of less developed countries' enterprises can be categorized as "green and digital," vs 31% of those in more developed regions.

Investments by businesses turned out to be more resilient than anticipated. Although actual investment held up better than first anticipated in 2020, realised investment fell substantially and corporations were more likely to invest less than intended.

EU businesses are now increasingly digital. One in ten companies have reduced their supply chains, and about a quarter have created new goods. However, there are some variations in reactiveness among locations.

To advance digitalization, more businesses in non-cohesion regions (47% as opposed to 41% in transition regions and 38% in less developed regions) have taken action. Businesses in more developed areas were more likely to have created new products.

In less developed countries, the proportion of businesses anticipating long-term changes to product and service supply chains is highest. Businesses in less developed regions are more likely to predict believe that COVID-19 would result in a permanent loss of jobs (19%, comparable to 2020), whereas these percentages have decreased in transition and non-cohesion regions to 15% and 12%, respectively.

A significant portion of businesses benefited from the policy support for the COVID-19 shock across all EU regions. The most prevalent forms of assistance across all areas were subsidies or other non-repayable support measures, including support for furlough programs. Inequality existed across EU regions. Compared to enterprises in less developed regions (40%) or non-cohesion regions (37%) firms in transition regions were less likely to get subsidies (28%).

The majority of businesses in less developed regions (20%, compared to 15% and 13% in transition and non-cohesion regions, respectively) report having made insufficient investments during the past three years. Along with a larger percentage of businesses reporting investment barriers and a lower percentage of firms investing, there is a higher frequency of enterprises reporting underinvestment.

Less developed regions have 54% of firms not engaging in innovation. In transition regions, 57% of businesses report not engaging in innovation. The innovation divide between EU regions has grown over time.

Big data and analytics, which are frequently linked to increased productivity, are more common in non-cohesion countries (24%, compared to 18% in transition regions and 13% in less developed regions).

Across the European Union, the most commonly mentioned investment barrier is the lack of trained labor. 75% of businesses in transitional regions found this to be problematic. In less developed and non-cohesion regions, it is 79%. Numerous reasons, such as demographics and rising demand for skills that are less common on the market, such as those needed to support digitalization activities, might contribute to the lack of competent workers.

Many businesses in cohesion regions are now concerned about how the shift to a low-carbon economy would affect their industry. In less developed and transitional locations, more people tend to view the climate shift as a risk than an opportunity. Only in non-cohesion regions, a larger proportion of businesses see the change as overall advantageous.

Fewer businesses are taking decisive action to address climate change concerns in areas the European cohesion policy considers less developed and transitional regions.

Companies in non-cohesion regions have made more investments in mitigating the effects of weather events and cutting carbon emissions (44%) than companies in the other regional groups, namely 40% in transition regions and 31% in less developed regions.

Less developed areas have the greatest proportion of businesses that have not engaged in or do not plan to invest in addressing climate change, making them more susceptible to (growing) physical dangers and less well-positioned to take advantage of the transition as an opportunity.

Many businesses are aware of the need to further digitalize in the post-COVID-19 climate, but those in less wealthy areas have traditionally been slower to do so.

During the green transition, workers in carbon-intensive industries are more likely to lose their jobs. In the years to come, the transition to a carbon-neutral economy will put more jobs at danger in regions with higher percentages of employment in carbon-intensive industries.

Non-cohesion regions often have smaller proportions of employment at danger of automation. This is due to a greater proportion of highly skilled and often less regular work in more developed locations, such as knowledge-intensive services. These jobs are often less susceptible to automation. Capital areas in particular, where many of these jobs are concentrated, tend to exhibit a lower level of danger from automation.

Employment opportunities by the green transition are associated with the use of renewable energy sources or building activity for infrastructure improvements and renovations.

According to the European Commission, over the past three years, across all economic categories, digital enterprises have been more likely than their non-digital counterparts to increase employment.

In all areas of Europe, digital businesses have produced "better" employment with greater earnings than their non-digital counterparts. Additionally, they are more inclined to recognize and reward individuals who do well.

Manufacturing (33%) or infrastructure (30%) are the two industries where the majority of green and digital businesses operate. The fact that these companies make up a large portion of the manufacturing sector may help to explain why.

The service sector comes in second (31%) and has the greatest percentage of businesses that have not engaged in digitalization or greening (41%).

Sustainability

Currently, Africa is warming faster than the rest of the world on average. Large portions of the continent may become uninhabitable as a result of the rapid effects of climate change, which would have disastrous effects on human health, food security, and poverty.

Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) may decline by 2% as a result of a 1°C rise in average world temperature, and by 12% as a result of a 4°C rise in temperature. Crop yields are anticipated to drastically decrease as a result of rising temperatures and an increase in the likelihood of drought throughout the continent. Additionally, it is anticipated that heavy rains would fall more frequently and intensely throughout Africa, increasing the risk of floods.

The second phase of the Lesotho Lowlands Water Supply Scheme, the Lowlands Water Development Project, seeks to increase water security and climate resilience in four areas of Lesotho's Lowlands.The project will address the nation's unique susceptibility to the detrimental effects of climate change on water security by including infrastructure to generate clean water in large quantities, enhance distribution networks and sanitation, and boost the efficiency of water usage. The project will also receive €116 million in funding from the European Investment Bank.

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also a refuge of parks and green areas that act as homes for uncommon animals. The city has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and takes pride in its biodiversity and high air quality.

The city will serve as the hub of a recently established network of 19 European communities that are aiming to raise the standard of living for their population while lessening their environmental footprint. The city is receiving support from the European Investment Bank through a €100 million loan, in order to upgrade public spaces, schools, scoial housing and energy efficient measures.

At COP26, the European Investment Bank announced a set of just transition common principles agreed upon with multilateral development banks, which also align with the Paris Agreement. The principles refer to focusing financing on the transition to net zero carbon economies, while keeping socioeconomic effects in mind, along with policy engagement and plans for inclusion and gender equality, all aiming to deliver long-term economic transformation.

The African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Council of Europe Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, New Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank are among the multilateral development banks that have vowed to uphold the principles of climate change mitigation and a Just Transition. The World Bank Group also contributed.

The sustainable development of urban areas is crucial since more than 56% of the world's population lives in cities. Cities are in the lead of climate action, while being responsible for an estimated 75% of the world's carbon emissions.

East report

Eastern Europe and Central Asia saw a dramatic drop in economic activity as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.  GDP in the region fell by 4% on average in 2020, with businesses in contact-intensive service industries being particularly adversely impacted. However, the level of governmental support was vast, with fiscal measures totaling about 6% of GDP.

The COVID-19 crisis affected worldwide economic activity, resulting in a 7% drop in global commercial commerce in 2020. While GVCs have persisted, several demand and supply mismatches caused by the pandemic have resurfaced throughout the recovery period and have been spread internationally through trade.

Unfair competition from informal employment, a poorly educated workforce, and restricted access to capital continue to be major challenges for businesses. The Enterprise Survey (ES) asked businesses to pick the "highest hurdle" from a selection of 15 options. The top six impediments influencing enterprises' day-to-day operations and performance are high tax rates, competition from the informal sector, a poorly trained workforce, and financial challenges. With the exception of Central and Eastern Europe, all areas rank access to money as one of the most significant challenges.

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses lost 25% of their revenue and 11% of their workforce, with contact-intensive sectors and SMEs being particularly heavily impacted. However, considerable policy assistance helped to avert large-scale bankruptcies, with just 4% of enterprises declaring for insolvency or permanently shutting at the time of the COVID wave.

The fraction of enterprises that directly export goods overseas is much greater in Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans than in lower- and upper-middle-income economies, whereas Central Asia and Russia trail significantly. An economic strategy based on exports and industrialisation, backed up by a proactive FDI policy, might facilitate the transfer of technology and knowledge, allowing for significant productivity growth.

According to the Enterprise Survey conducted by the European Investment Bank, companies who deal on foreign markets are more likely to innovate. The ratio of innovative enterprises among non-exporters is roughly 30%, but it rises to over 40% among importers. Exporters and GVC members are among the most innovative groups (above 50% of firms).

Eastern European and Central Asian businesses fall behind their Southern European counterparts in terms of the average quality of their green management practices, notably in terms of specified energy consumption and emissions objectives.

External variables, such as consumer pressure and energy taxes, are more relevant than firm-level features, such as size and age, in influencing the quality of green management practices.

Firms with less financial limitations and stronger green management practices are more likely to invest in a bigger variety of green initiatives. Energy efficiency investments are good to both the bottom line and the environment.

Access to capital is seen as a barrier by about 55% of businesses. Credit limitations are especially difficult for SMEs and new businesses to overcome. Credit constraints affect 24% of SMEs and 27% of young businesses.

Improving customs and trade rules, which decreases entrance costs for businesses wishing to trade, will give a larger number of businesses, particularly small businesses, access to international markets.

Investment in digital infrastructure should be prioritized by policymakers, who should also promote advances in management practices and worker skill development. Governments might promote intense training programs aiming at strengthening SMEs' management and increasing incentives to reskill the workforce, particularly in less well-connected locations, in order to attract creative enterprises. When combined with digital infrastructure investment, this might assist to rebalance regional development disparities and enhance resilience and adaptation to shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, economic activity in the region fell by 4% on average, with contact-intensive services taking the brunt of the blow. In many nations in the area, policy support in reaction to this shock was unparalleled.

Aid to people and businesses in the form of employment retention schemes, subsidies, tax relief, and loan guarantee programs totaled roughly 9% of GDP, with substantial cross-country variance, which might reflect policy space and development levels. In the face of considerable liquidity challenges, debt moratoriums and revisions to bankruptcy rules also safeguarded businesses and people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic had a significant influence on overall activities in 2020. Economic activity in most sub-regions declined by roughly 4% in 2020, similar to the world average of 3.2%.

In response to the pandemic's high infection rates and death toll, countries in the Western Balkans, the Eastern Neighbourhood, and Central and Eastern Europe faced severe recessions.

Central Asian nations fared better economically throughout the crisis, but Turkey was one of just a few countries in the globe to see activity increase in 2020. Many variables are likely to have been at play, but disparities in economic structure, the intensity of the pandemic, and accompanying containment efforts may all be linked to part of the variety in nations' experiences.

A survey conducted in 2021 found that many businesses cut back on operations as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, resulting in a significant decline in revenue and job changes. Due to the pandemic, over 40% of the businesses surveyed had to close temporarily. Sales in the region declined by roughly 25% on average, but there was substantial variation within sub-regions.

In the Eastern Neighbourhood, average sales declined by more than 40% compared to the same month last year, but only by roughly 15% in Central and Eastern Europe. The drop in sales had a negative impact on employment and homes, with companies laying off about 11% of their employees. The lodging and food services industry was the most impacted, with a 50 percent drop in turnover (exceeding the average of 24%).

The hotel and food services industry was the worst-affected sector overall, with 12% of businesses permanently shutting and 8% going bankrupt.

Central Asian countries are predicted to be hit the worst. Only 4% of permanently closed businesses anticipate to return in the future, with huge differences across sectors, ranging from 3% in lodging and food services to 27% in retail commerce.

One out of every five businesses launched or grew their online business or distribution of products and services, while one out of every four businesses started or increased their remote operations.

The pandemic has also hastened corporate transformation, with over 30% of companies altering or transforming their output as a result of it. Chemical manufacturers and wholesalers were the first to respond, with one in three expanding online business activity, beginning or boosting delivery of products and services, increasing remote employment, and changing manufacturing.

Across sub-regions, Russian companies reported the highest rate of digital transformation, with more than half of them beginning or growing online activity, products delivery, and remote work.

Four out of five companies in Central and Eastern Europe adapted their manufacturing methods in reaction to the outbreak. Following the onset of COVID-19, the majority of businesses got or anticipated to receive some form of government assistance, with three out of four obtaining wage subsidies. Only 15% of businesses, on the other hand, were given fresh financing.

The pandemic has had a greater impact on SMEs than on large businesses, with an average sales loss of 26% versus to 23% for large businesses.

SMEs were more nimble in altering output during the pandemic, despite the intensity of the shock. In reaction to the crisis, one-third of major enterprises altered their output or services, compared to 37% of SMEs.

Large businesses, on the other hand, embraced digitization to a greater extent than small businesses, with 26 percent boosting their online distribution of products and services, compared to 22 percent for SMEs. The most significant difference in adaption measures was shown in the chance of expanding remote work, which increased by 25% among SMEs but 50% among large businesses.

During the pandemic, foreign-owned enterprises were 77% more likely than local firms to initiate or grow remote operations.

Innovative businesses were 11 percentage points more likely than non-innovative enterprises to start or grow remote work, and 6 percentage points more likely to alter output.

Firms that had a website in 2019, a crude proxy of digitalisation, were about 7% more likely to increase remote work and start or increase business activity online than firms that did not have a website. Better managed, more innovative firms and digitalised firms were also significantly more likely to access policy support than their peers.

Despite some signs of weaker resilience, firms owned or managed by women responded proactively to the crisis. During normal times, a large body of literature has established a beneficial relationship between the percentage of women on corporate boards and in senior management and business success.

Women-owned or managed businesses were much more likely to react by launching or expanding delivery services, undertaking remote work, and modifying production. More research is needed to determine the reasons for their lesser use of policy assistance, as well as the extent to which this reflects demand versus supply variables.

The percentage of day-to-day operations supported by internal equity is around 75%, with two out of every five businesses claiming 100% internal funding. Debt instruments used by businesses are approximately evenly divided between bank loans (11% company finance) and credit from suppliers (at 12% of the total).

By September 2021, more than 40% of the region's population had received at least one dose of the vaccine.  A number of variables, including as supply and procurement difficulties, logistical challenges, and vaccine hesitation, contributed to the delayed progress.

Economic activity decreased by almost 4% in the majority of sub-regions in 2020, which was similar to the global average of 3.2%. However, the variance between nations is prominent. The high infection and mortality rates of the pandemic in countries in the Western Balkans, the Eastern Neighbourhood, and Central and Eastern Europe meant they faced deeper recessions.

Turkey was one of the few nations in the globe where activity continued to grow in 2020, while Central Asian nations withstood the crisis with less economic damage. The output contractions in nations with strong tourism-related economies and nations with stricter pandemic containment policies were both significantly more severe.

Businesses anticipate that it will take an average of five months for revenues to return to pre-pandemic levels and two months for the workforce to do the same. It is anticipated that Central Asian nations will be more severely impacted. Only 4% of those businesses that were permanently closed anticipate to open again, with the impacted industries' levels of heterogeneity ranging from 3% in the lodging and food services sector to 27% in the retail trade sector.

Over 30% of businesses adjusted or changed their output as a result of the pandemic, which also drove corporate transformation. Businesses that produce chemicals and engage in wholesale commerce were quicker to adapt; one in three of these businesses increased online business activity, began or increased delivery of goods and services, increased remote work, and modified production.

The results suggest that in countries with larger fiscal packages, the gap in bankruptcy rates between SMEs and non-SMEs was significantly smaller even though SMEs were on average more likely to experience bankruptcy even after controlling for the size of the shock, the use of bank financing, country and sector fixed effects, and the size of the shock. When policy assistance rises by 1% of GDP, the probabilities of bankruptcy for a SME are 2.7 times higher than for a non-SME.

Government assistance appears to have benefited SMEs more than large corporations among the companies that do have overdraft facilities, indicating a successful application of policies to ease financial limitations for SMEs even when they have lifelines from the banking sector.

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2022 - Digitalisation report

The share of EU firms implementing advanced technologies, such as 3-D printing, advanced robotics, or the internet in their business remained relatively stable from 2020 to 2021, reaching 61% in 2021, after significant increases in the previous years, with 63% in 2020 and 58% in 2019.

Finland and Malta ranked first and second in terms of digitalization in 2021, followed by Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

During the COVID-19 crisis, in the EU 46% of firms reported taking steps to become more digital, compared to 58% of US firms. When it comes to advanced digital technologies, 66% of firms in the United States have made investments, while in the European Union that number is at 61%.

The United States had a growing digital gap, while non-digital enterprises were more dynamic. 64% of US enterprises that had previously embraced advanced digital technologies increased their investment in digitalisation, and 48% of non-digital US firms began investing in digital technologies following the COVID-19 pandemic.

61% of EU enterprises have already implemented advanced digital technology, while 26% of EU businesses have not invested in digital transformation at all. To assist their economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, some enterprises may require more policy support.

From 2019 to 2020, the proportion of EU enterprises employing advanced digital technology in their operations expanded dramatically. From 2020 to 2021, this percentage remained relatively stable, reaching 61% in 2021, compared to 63 % in 2020 and 58% in 2019.

The Czech Republic is the top-performing EU country for the usage of advanced digital technologies.

Finland was the top performing EU country in terms of digital infrastructure and the use of formal strategic business monitoring.

Austria is leading digitalization adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cyprus is leading software and data investment.

Sweden is at the top for investing in digital training for their employees.

Digital infrastructure is essential for leveraging investment in digital transformation. According to the most recent EIBIS statistics, 16% of EU enterprises regard access to digital infrastructure to be a substantial barrier to investment.

Access to digital infrastructure is increasing across the European Union, with the great majority of homes now having access to broadband, but more has to be done to promote the spread of fast connections. The proportion of enterprises citing digital infrastructure as a key barrier to investment has a positive association across nations and regions.

Firms with low average latency (a proxy for fast internet) are likely to have greater rates of digital adoption. According to the results of the Investment survey conducted by the European Investment Bank, many EU areas have the potential to enable investment in digital transformation of enterprises by expanding access to faster internet. The operational environment influences organizations' decisions to go digital.

The findings of the European Investment Bank investment survey imply that, while the coronavirus outbreak has boosted overall digitization, it has also widened the digital divide across firms. Leading businesses advanced digitization more frequently, but some enterprises fell behind and were less likely to convert digitally during the crisis.

During the pandemic, 53% of enterprises in the European Union that had previously implemented advanced digital technology invested more to become more digital. This compared to 34% of non-digital EU enterprises that viewed the crisis as a chance to begin investing in their digital transformation.

A growing digital gap is also emerging in the United States, despite non-digital enterprises being more dynamic than in the European Union. In the United States, 48 percent of enterprises that were non-digital before to the pandemic utilized the crisis to begin investing in digital technologies, compared to 64 percent of firms that had previously implemented sophisticated digital technology.

The large percentage of enterprises who are not investing in digitization is concerning and might have major consequences for firms' competitiveness during the economic recovery. Firms in the "neither" group may require stronger or more targeted policy help to avoid falling behind. Only 18% of enterprises in the United States have incorporated advanced digital technology or invested in digitalisation in response to the pandemic.

Companies that have engaged in digital transformation tend to have stronger management practices. Enterprises in nations where a high proportion of firms employ strategic business monitoring systems and key performance indicators (a proxy for management quality) are more likely to have deployed sophisticated digital technology.

Management strategies are also associated to digitization adoption during the pandemic, while the positive association is less. These findings are consistent with earlier research demonstrating the role of management practices in technology adoption and company performance.

Enterprises in the EU have lower adoption rates for the internet of things than firms in the US. According to the data breakdown on digital technologies, the variations in adoption rates between the European Union and the United States are driven by the lower use of technologies connected to the internet of things – electronic devices that interact with each other without human intervention.

This technology has been implemented by 29% of EU enterprises on average, compared to 47% of US firms. When it comes to drone adoption, EU corporations also lag behind (which are used in the construction sector). EU enterprises are ahead of US corporations in advanced robotics and platform utilization. The disparities in adoption rates between EU and US enterprises are less significant for the other digital technologies covered in the survey.

Firms that adopted digital technology were better prepared to deal with the pandemic's disruptions. Remote working arrangements, smart factories, 3-D printing to produce in-house product components or parts affected by supply chain disruptions, and the use of big data analytics and artificial intelligence to reschedule and plan activities to adapt to the COVID-19 crisis are examples of firms' adaptation strategies.

Enterprises with the most advanced digital grid locations are less likely than non-digital firms to have had a drop in sales since the beginning of 2020. This tendency is seen in both Europe and the United States. Those firms also the least likely to believe that the crisis or its consequences constitute an existential danger to their company.

The COVID-19 crisis prompted businesses to discover more effective ways of utilizing digital technology. Smaller firms who enhanced their digitalization in response to the pandemic say that they exploited the crisis to speed improvements they had previously intended to make. 38% of firms surveyed focused on basic digital tecnologies, and 22% on advanced.

Firms with more than 50 workers,, are more likely to begin investing in digital transformation. Organizations that invested in both advanced and basic digital technologies were also most likely to outperform during the pandemic. Small businesses were the most likely to fall behind, and less likely to have boosted their digital investments.

Businesses that saw an increase or drop in sales from 2019 to 2020 that had previously not embraced advanced digital technologies were more likely to have subsequently invested in increasing digitalisation. Firms that experienced no change in sales were less likely to digitally transform.

The digital divide between organizations may widen over time. Expanding capacity and developing new goods, processes, or services are the top investment goals for more technologically sophisticated organizations from 2021 to 2024. Non-digital enterprises are more likely to invest in replacing old buildings, machinery, equipment and IT. Approximately 20% of non-digital enterprises report having no investment intentions.

Firms that have incorporated innovative digital technology are more positive about their industry's and the overall economic condition over the next 12 months.

Previous studies have shown that digital businesses are more productive, and non-digital enterprises that began investing in digital transformation during the pandemic but did not use advanced digital technology, had lower total factor productivity. Digital adoption, therefore, is found to have a favorable effect on productivity. An example of this is platform technology in the services industry.

Companies that make use of modern digital technology are also more likely to export goods and services to other countries. This conclusion is consistent with research that show exporters are more productive. Exporting goods or services has also increased company resilience throughout the COVID-19 crisis and recovery, since export-led industries tend to recover quicker than non-export-led sectors.

Digital technologies frequently provide: network effects, scope economies in data collecting and analysis, and a high and rising level of pricing and product differentiation, resulting in market power concentration.

Higher investment intensity is seen in more advanced digital companies (defined as investment spending over turnover). This increased investment intensity can be explained by digital enterprises' improved productivity and stronger demand for their goods and services.

Firms that have embraced advanced digital technology devote a greater proportion of their investment efforts to R&D. Firms who engaged in digitisation during the pandemic report spending a big portion of their expenditure in 2020 on software, data, IT infrastructure, and website operations.

The integration of big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and 3-D printing is related with higher levels of innovation. To make the most of new technologies, businesses must gather and analyze massive volumes of data. The process of invention can be aided by big data analytics or artificial intelligence.

The growing digital gap threatens the labor economy. In Europe, 31 % work for companies that do nothing in the digital arena, compared to 22 % in the United States. This is also due to the fact that the European Union has many more small businesses than the United States. Smaller businesses are less digital, which has repercussions for the employees they hire. Non-digital enterprises tend to pay lower wages and are less likely to create new employment. They have also been less inclined to train their employees throughout the pandemic.

The higher average wages given by digital enterprises reflect the increased demand for competent labor. The digital revolution is frequently accompanied by the automation of ordinary tasks. This automation frequently comes at the price of low and medium-skilled employment demand.

Firms must hire skilled individuals with the necessary abilities in order to exploit digital technology. While digitization has the potential to disrupt occupations and tasks, the positions generated by digital enterprises tend to be rather highly compensated.

Since the beginning of 2020, EU enterprises that embraced advanced digital technology and invested in becoming more digital during the pandemic have increased the number of employees they employ.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of non-digital enterprises that downsized was also greater than the share of non-digital firms that had positive job growth. Non-digital companies had a negative net employment balance.

Furlough and short-term employment programmes in the European Union kept people employed, while bankruptcy filing rules for businesses were reduced, allowing workers to keep their jobs.

In contrast, the United States depended on direct payments and loans to help individuals and businesses, regardless of whether current jobs were retained. As a result, while aggregate hours worked decreased by around 15% in the United States and the European Union, unemployment increased significantly in the United States. However, in the United States, most sophisticated digital enterprises were better able to avert worker reductions than non-digital firms.

Certain digital technologies must be investigated since some are predicted to result in job losses. For example, in recent years, the adoption of modern robotics has led to net employment growth. However, many businesses anticipate that automation employing robots would result in job losses in the future. This is especially true for companies in Central and Eastern Europe.

Other digital technologies, such as platforms or big data/artificial data, are projected to have a more neutral impact on employment.

Individual success is often rewarded with better pay in digital companies. they are more likely to have a designated person in charge of defining and monitoring climate change initiatives. These companies are more likely to declare that they have established and are monitoring carbon emissions and energy consumption objectives. Data from the European Investment Bank's investment survey as well as earlier research emphasize the relevance of management practices in terms of technology adoption and company success.

Digitally advanced companies put more money into energy-saving strategies. In the European Union, 59% of companies that have made investments in both basic and advanced technologies have also invested in energy efficiency measures, compared to only 50% of US firms in the same category. Overall, there is a significant disparity between businesses' digital profiles and investments in energy efficiency.

Digital technologies are important in achieving the green transition and the European Green Deal's environmental targets. Emerging digital technologies, if correctly applied, have the potential to play a critical role in addressing environmental issues. Smart city mobility, precision agriculture, sustainable supply chains, environmental monitoring, and catastrophe prediction are just a few examples.

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Banking in Jordan

The Jordanian banking sector's non-performing loan (NPL) ratio remained at 5.5%.

A Bank Lending Survey examined credit supply and demand patterns, taking into account the impact of COVID-19 as well as the difficulties posed by climate risk and digitalisation. Data was collected in the spring of 2021 via an online application, with insights and information received from 21 respondent banks in Jordan, representing more than 90% of banking industry assets.

According to the survey, the pandemic's impact on credit supply in Jordan has been quite limited. Approximately two-thirds of the banks polled indicated a constant or growing availability of loans.

SMEs have been less affected than bigger enterprises. 50% of banks questioned reported an increase in loan supply to SMEs, while 25% reported a reduction. For corporates, the increase in loan supply was 25% and 45% reported a reduction.

Credit to SMEs was low to begin with, leaving little room for decline; (ii)support measures were put in place by the authorities to ensure that credit continued to flow to the private sector, particularly SMEs, which benefited from dedicated guarantee schemes; and (iii) SMEs entered the crisis in good shape and demonstrated flexibility and resilience throughout.

Concerning the impact of COVID-19 on internal operations, 90% of respondents agree that the pandemic will hasten the digitization of internal processes. 81% believed that banks' daily operations will be impacted and 90% believed that banks' online offerings will be improved.

Two-thirds of Jordanian banks are unconcerned about climate risk. Although 26.3% of banks consider climate risk when assessing clients, nearly 60% indicated that their risk management framework lacks an explicit process for assessing clients' climate risk, they do not consider climate risk when assessing clients, or they do not assess their portfolio exposure to climate risk.

Jordan's real GDP fell by 1.6% in 2020, with a dramatic reduction in tourism—a crucial economic sector—being one of the primary transmission routes of the crisis.

Tourism provides for about 40% of Jordan's export receipts and 10–15 percent of GDP, with 3.8 million international tourists every year. The sector's GDP share fell to 3% in 2020, and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to be slow.

The yearly growth rate of the economy was 2% from 2016 to 2019, compared to 6.4 percent from 2000 to 2009.

Unemployment has continued to rise, hitting 25% in 2021, the highest level in more than 25 years, 6% points more than in 2019, and more than double the amount in 2011. Unemployment is a major issue, particularly for young people, women, and those with a university degree, with rates of unemployment exceeding 45%, 30%, and 30%, respectively.

Macroeconomic stability has been maintained, and modest growth rates are expected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 2022 (2.7%) and 2023 (2.7%) in predictions provided in the October 2021 World Economic Outlook. In the first half of 2021, real GDP increased by 3.2%.

Trade is also indicating a revival in activity: exports increased by 16% overall and by 33% to the European Union in the first eight months of 2021, while imports increased by more than 20%. Inflation is now around 1.6% (as of September 2021).

In December 2021, 40% of the population of Jordan was fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Jordan is now benefiting from IMF-supported programs, having signed the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) in 2020, with an increase to the EFF in July 2021. Jordan's support from these programs totals USD1.9 billion (4.2 %). 1.2 billion have been given since theCOVID-19 pandemic began.

Jordan's banking system consists of 25 commercial banks, three Islamic banks, and nine foreign banks, with total assets of Jordanian dinar, JOD 57 billion (or EUR69.6 billion). Between 2010 and 2020, the sector's total assets climbed by 5% on average, led by a 7% increase in lending.

Credit to SMEs accounts for 10% of overall credit facilities, with one-third allocated to small businesses. Foreign currency lending accounts for 12% of total lending (as of the end of 2020), and this ratio has been relatively stable over the last two decades; the majority of lending (88%) is in local currency.

Total credit to GDP has generally been high, rising from 75% in 2010 to 85.6 % in 2018 and then to 90% in 2020.

Some measures were extended in 2021, including the CBJ expanding its subsidized lending programmes for SMEs and extending the bank loan service embargo to negatively impacted borrowers until the end of 2021. These policies have had a significant impact on the flow of credit, particularly to SMEs.

Banking sector profitability was momentarily impacted (in 2020) by the COVID-19-induced economic downturn, but it has already recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels in 2021. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio increased only somewhat as a result of COVID-19 (from 5% in 2019 to 5.5 % by the end of 2020), and it had already decreased down to 5.3 % by mid-2021.

Access to capital is regarded as an impediment by 17.4% of Jordanian businesses, which is lower than the regional average of the Southern Neighborhood3 (31%).

In keeping with Southern Neighborhood statistics, a substantial proportion of Jordanian enterprises in need of a loan are deterred from applying (49% of SMEs, 59 % of large corporates). Banks have rejected just a modest number of enterprises' credit applications (7.5%), because many do not even attempt to apply.

Internal finance is the primary source of funding for many businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Bank-based financing is scarce, with only 14% of SMEs and 28% of large corporations in Jordan having a credit line, and 22% of SMEs having no bank account.

Respondent banks indicated that COVID-19 had a significant influence on the evolution of credit risk management: 71% of banks demanded greater collateral and guarantees, while 57% increased their reliance on external credit guarantees. Furthermore, 86% of banks reported a decline in their clients' financial status.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, financial availability remained substantially similar, and expanded in some cases. 80% of banks indicated an increased in funding from the CBJ. The CBJ's assistance compensated for the general drop in other funding sources reported.

Most Jordanian banks provide SME lending, which is often organized in one of two ways: either a specialized SME department (71 % of surveyed institutions) or a more general credit department (29% ). Only 15% of the banks examined had no SME financing in place.

Over two-thirds of responding banks are unconcerned about climate danger. Only 32% consider climate risk to be important to their lending portfolio exposure. Just over 20% of banks consider climate risk when appraising clients and measuring their own physical risk exposure.

Client rating (by the bank, 66.7 %) and seeking assurances from clients are the most common methods used to mitigate climate risk (50%). Pricing, loan maturity, and incentives for green projects, on the other hand, are used less frequently or not at all.

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Corporate investment COVID - 19 essay

In the summer of 2020, 80% of the over 12,500 European enterprises polled in the European Investment Bank Investment Survey (EIBIS 2020) reported a profitable previous year.

According to the a survey on investment conducted by the European Investment Bank, European firms lost one-quarter of their gross income on average in the second quarter of 2020.

The loss was substantially greater than the drop experienced by enterprises during the previous two recessions – the global financial crisis in 2008 and the European sovereign debt crisis in 2010.

Overall investment fell as the economy regressed, although the loss was less severe than previously anticipated. While the flow of financing assisted some businesses in staying on track with their business strategies and investments, it came at a cost: rising debt.

According to the EIBIS, which was performed throughout the summer of 2020, 34% of enterprises projected their capacity to fund internal investments to decline in the coming 12 months.

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Recovery frontlines

Local municipalities contribute 45% of total government investment. Basic infrastructure, such as public transportation or water utilities, is included in their investment. They also update public facilities including schools, hospitals, and social housing. Prioritizing energy efficiency in these projects will assist Europe in meeting climate targets.

Cities & towns are also responsible for around 70% of total greenhouse gas emissions.

Municipal investment began to increase again about 2017. In the three years preceding the pandemic, over two-thirds of EU towns boosted infrastructure investments. This investment has tended to concentrate on certain types of infrastructure, such as digital infrastructure, at 70% and social services at 60%, as well as climate change mitigation at 56%.

To review - Activity report

According to the European Space Agency, every euro spent in the space industry returns around six euros to the economy, making the sector critical for economic development, competitiveness, and high-tech jobs.

The European Investment Bank approved a €45 million loan in October 2021 to assist Spain's Hipra manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine. This vaccine, which is still in clinical trials, is based on standard recombinant protein technology. It has been improved in order to be more effective against COVID-19 variations. It may be stored in a conventional refrigerator, which is useful in impoverished nations and rural places where special freezers for the BioNTech vaccine are difficult to get.

The European Investment Bank signed a €30 million worldwide vaccine distribution agreement with the Belgian biotechnology company Univercells in June 2021. The business intends to extend the manufacturing of large volumes of COVID-19 vaccines at a new Belgian location and to assist in the construction of other factories across the world to stockpile vaccines. Meanwhile, BioNTech and the European Union are collaborating to assess mRNA vaccine production facilities in Africa, specifically Rwanda and Senegal.

The European Investment Bank have lent more than €1 billion per year to hospital infrastructure over the period 2011-2021. The EIB's COVID-19 portfolio includes over 20 leading European firms with potential vaccines, treatments, and testing, totaling €770 million in investment.

The European Union is launching a new initiative called the European Bio-Defense Preparedness Plan to prepare for the next pandemic. The Health Emergency and Response Authority (HERA) Incubator was established after a conference of European chiefs of state in February 2021 and intends to focus on collaboration between states.

To establish the fund, the European Investment Bank collaborated with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, pharmaceutical companies, and the World Health Organization. It has received funding from 20 major pharmaceutical firms, including Eli Lilly, Roche, and Teva, as well as the Wellcome Trust. The fund's goal is to deliver two to four antimicrobial drugs to the market by 2030.

Africa received less than 2% of the 3 billion vaccination doses provided globally. A new vaccine manufacturing facility at Senegal's Institut Pasteur de Dakar is part of a global plan to close this critical gap and increase Africa's skills to produce vaccinations.

Because Africa imports 99% of its vaccinations, new production facilities on the region are critical. By the end of 2022, the new vaccine manufacturing facility at the Institut Pasteur de Dakar expects to manufacture up to 25 million doses of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine each month.

The EU bank guaranteed a substantial portion of Finnvera's prospective loan portfolio in April 2021, allowing the company to make up to € 650 million in additional finance accessible to medium and large businesses.The European Investment Bank inked a similar guarantee with the Swedish Export Credit Corporation, or SEK, allowing it to issue €467 million in fresh loans to medium and large businesses. The entire gain to the Swedish economy from this agreement might be €1.1 billion. The EIB spends around €2 billion in Swedish projects each year.

Over the period 2001-2021, tech companies have replaced the traditional silicon switch in an electric circuit with quicker gallium nitride transistors to make gadgets as energy efficient as feasible. Gallium nitride transistors, on the other hand, are more costly. Eggtronic pushed the power converter architecture to decrease switching losses even more. Standard silicon performs as well as gallium nitride in its pioneering architecture, while gallium nitride performs three times better than the same semiconductor in the typical architecture. This is significant in lowering the carbon footprint

The majority of European firms are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), employing over 100 million people, with a large majority seeing a decline in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the Paris Alignment for Counterparties framework was launched, the EIB Group was the first multilateral bank to examine the climate effect of the projects it supports and broader activities of borrowers.\

The European Investment Bank's €50 million investment in European Spallation Source is supported by InnovFin-EU Finance for Innovators, an initiative established by the EIB Group in collaboration with the European Commission under Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation program. This is the third installment of the loan facility since 2016, totaling €200 million.

Reviewed messages:

The Climate-Smart Urbanization Program is an initiative by the CIF meant to support cities. The Climate Investment Funds has been important in climate financing since 2008.

The International Finance Corporation state that cities in emerging markets can attract more than $29 trillion in climate-related sectors by 2030.

Unlike other infrastructure funds, Marguerite Fund II invests in greenfield infrastructure cases before they are fully developed, despite the risk.

European Investment Bank (EIB) and the national promotional banks contributed €705 million to the fund by November 2017, and a private investor in 2018 contributed another 40 million. The European Investment Bank, with the guarantee of European Fund for Strategic Investments, doubled the in Marguerite II to 200 million, marking it as the EU bank's largest investment in a infrastructure fund.

As a direct digital cable must cover 6.200km of ocean floor, cross submarine mountain ranges and rifts, investments present a commercial risk. Most clients can thus only purchase capacity after the cable is finalised.

Marguerite I launched following the financial crisis in 2010, at a time when investors had little trust in greenfield infrastructure. In Europe, specifically France and Germany, investments were successful following the 170 million fund.

Some impact indicators for the fund were:

• 900,000 energy-saving streetlights
• 550 000 tons of waste treated,
• with 366 kilometres of highway and
• a renewable energy capacity of 1 300 megawatts.

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With EIB financing, innovations from firms like Jennewein can remain in Europe, and not be outsourced to the United States.

Jennewein, established in 2005 in Rheinbreitbach, obtained a €10 million loan from the European Investment Bank's InnovFin Growth Capital Initiative in 2015 to help start the company's first plant. Jennewein was able to secure the quickest innovative product registration from the US Food and Drug Administration and then the European Food Safety Authority as a result of this.

Jennewein received a second European Investment Bank loan in 2018 from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, which paired EU bank funding with a budget guarantee from the EU. Since the company was still in the early stages of growth, commercial banks were reluctant to participate. The European Investment Bank provided funding in the form of venture debt with equity-like characteristics.

According to the European Commission, a 10% rise in digital coverage could result in a more than 1% increase in African GDP. The European Investment Bank makes funding emerging developments on the continent a priority, in line with the EU's plan for African digital transformation.

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According to the European Commission, a 10% rise in digital coverage could result in a more than 1% increase in African GDP. The European Investment Bank makes funding emerging developments on the continent a priority, in line with the EU's plan for African digital transformation.

The European Investment Bank approved more than €600 million of investment in Africa's digital sector from 2015 to 2020.

The European Investment Bank has funded Orange's expansion of smartphone coverage in Guinea to satisfy rising demand while also providing a more stable energy supply.

Orange Guinée builds off-grid sites that improve the cell network using masts powered by photovoltaic panels, expanding coverage in rural areas and strengthening coverage in urban areas . This is being financed with a $30 million loan from the European Investment Bank. These solar-powered cell telecommunications antennae will slash grid fuel usage by more than 80%.

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If CO2 emissions and sources are to be captured and stopped from entering the atmosphere, an alternate chemical solution must be formulated that achieves the desired output while not releasing CO2 as a by-product.

Carbon is used as both a source of electricity and a feedstock in these sectors, making decarbonization impossible. If CO2 emissions and sources are to be captured and stopped from entering the atmosphere, an alternate chemical solution must be formulated that achieves the desired output while not releasing CO2 as a by-product.

Since the number of pollution rights is decreasing, the right to emit CO2 will become more costly over time. This is a powerful catalyst for energy-intensive companies to transition to low-carbon technology in order to stay competitive in the future.

Due to the increasing cost of CO2 emissions, CO2-intensive processing would increasingly become more costly. Simultaneously, as innovations advance and are implemented on a wider scale, decarbonized manufacturing should become more affordable. Emission-intensive manufacturing will become obsolete at some stage in the future, at a CO2-emission price that is obviously much higher than it is currently.

There are five technologies commonly identified in decarbonisation:

- electrifying heat as furnaces are powered by electricity rather than burning fuels. Green energy must still be used.

- the use of hydrogen as a furnace steam, a chemical feedstock, or a reactant in chemical processes the use of biomass as a source of energy or feedstock. In other words, replacing coal with bio coal or gas with bio-gas. One example is charcoal, which is made by converting wood into coal and has a CO2 footprint of zero.

- carbon capture and storage. This is where greenhouse gases are isolated from other natural gases, compressed, and injected into the earth to avoid being emitted into the atmosphere. The aim of this method is to turn industrial gases into something valuable, such as ethanol or raw materials for the chemical industry.

Countries like Europe and the United States, which have had a high degree of industrial growth for decades, have a huge stock of steel circulating in their economies that can be recycled. However, in a country like China, where growth is so rapid, the available stock of steel that can be recycled is limited in contrast to the need for new cities and infrastructure. An obstacle is that these green manufacturing methods must deal with products manufactured from outside the EU, which are mostly cheaper and produced using carbon-emitting, traditional technology.

The obstacle in green manufacturing methods is that they must deal with products manufactured from outside the EU, which are mostly cheaper and produced using carbon-emitting, traditional technology.

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Addressing climate change uncertainties entails adhering to both public policies and good banking practices.

For the sake of the war against climate change, it is the European Investment Bank's responsibility to assist countries in identifying climate threats and increasing the resilience of their programs.

“It’s a DNA change at the Bank, where we accelerate the transition through green finance and pull out all the stops to make the European Green Deal a success.” - Stephen O'Driscoll, head of the Environment, Climate and Social Office at the European Investment Bank.

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“When we think about livelihoods at risk from climate change impacts, we know that people living in developing countries, and especially the least-developed countries and small island states, often have the least financial resources to adapt," says Nancy Saich, the Bank’s chief climate change expert."

The European Investment Bank has provided €170 billion in climate funding, which has funded over €600 billion in programs to mitigate emissions and help people respond to climate change and biodiversity depletion across Europe and the world. Around 2015 and 2020, the Juncker Plan contributed significantly to the creation of 14 million jobs in the EU.

Around 2015 and 2020, the Juncker Plan contributed significantly to the creation of 14 million jobs in the EU.

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For the European Investment Bank, the Juncker Plan meant a transition from output—making large loans to big projects—to effect, in which every euro it loaned had to result in a net contribution of €15 until other investors' funds were factored in.

During the recession, investment volumes plunged and stayed well below pre-crisis peaks. The banking industry lacked risk-taking capability. The government's expenses have been slashed. Other issues included the immaturity of European capital markets and the inconsistency of regulatory environments in the EU.

The EU budget will include a commitment for the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund) to grow and deploy market-ready goods. Juncker had claimed that the Commission was not a bank and that the EIB needed to manage that part of the programme.

Economists predict that EFSI investments will raise EU GDP by 1.9 trillion and generate 1.8 million jobs by 2022, relative to the baseline scenario.

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The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund invests in early-stage companies with developed innovations that are searching for funds to broaden their activities and reach new markets.

The bio-economy, especially the circular bioeconomy, decreases our dependency on natural resources by encouraging sustainable goods that generate food, materials, and energy using renewable biological resources (such as lupins). According to the European Commission's EU Science Center, it produces €1.5 trillion in value added, accounting for 11% of EU GDP. The European Investment Bank invests between €6 billion and €9 billion in the bio-economy per year, with the industry employing 8% of the EU workforce.

The European Investment Bank invests between €6 billion and €9 billion in the bio-economy per year, with the industry employing 8% of the EU workforce.

Peel Pioneers, a Dutch firm that turns the bits of an orange discarded by juicers in restaurants, hotels, and stores into other food ingredients, is one of the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund's previous investments. Peel Pioneers will benefit from the Fund's investment when it expands its factory in the Netherlands, with the eventual aim of expanding to other nations.

Eligibility requirements and core terms of reference for an equity and mezzanine debt fund were established by the European Investment Bank and the European Commission directorates-general for agriculture and research and innovation. As a result, an investment advisor was chosen, and the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund was created.

The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund invests in:

• Circular / bio-economy technologies
• Biomass/feedstock production that boosts agricultural productivity while lowering environmental impact
• Biomass/feedstock conversion technologies that result in higher-value, green goods
• Bio-based chemicals and materials
• Biological alternatives in fields such as cosmetics

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The European Investment Bank signed a €75 million loan with ArcelorMittal Belgium in May 2020 under the European Commission's InnovFin Energy Demonstration Projects facility to partly fund the development of the new facilities.

ArcelorMittal Belgium, the world's largest steelmaker, is putting in place a first-of-its-kind, revolutionary technology at a size and scope that has never been seen before. The initiative is in accordance with ArcelorMittal Europe's pollution reduction roadmap, which plans for a 30% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.

Instead of using electricity, this technology seeks to generate ethanol using 15% of the by-product gases. However, Arcelor Mittal's aim is to gradually and fully replace its internal power plants with the conversion of off-gases into ethanol—or, in the future, other base chemical products.

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Nilar has spent over fifteen years designing nickel-based batteries in a new large format, and went commercial in 2019. The company's nickel metal hydride batteries are intended for use in domestic, private, public, and industrial settings to store renewable energy. Nickel is a heavier metal than lithium, which is found in hybrid vehicles, but it isn't used in fully electric vehicles. However, since nickel metal hydride batteries are non-flammable, Nilar's Hydride energy storage batteries are suitable for use in houses. They have a twenty-year life expectancy and can be recycled at a low cost.

The cost of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles has fallen by approximately 90% since 2010, and the cost of nickel stationary storage batteries has dropped by about two-thirds since 2010. Still, however, almost all modern batteries are supplied from outside the European Union.

“The European Investment Bank’s willingness, to help take Nilar’s technology to the market at the beginning of its commercialisation road through providing loans, is critical,” Obermayer says.

Nilar's batteries are used to store electricity generated by renewable energy, as well as to balance power flows in commercial buildings and to speed up the charging of electric vehicles. This means that electricity produced – on a small scale by solar panels in the homes of ‘prosumers,' or on a larger scale by hydro-electric, solar, or wind power plants – can be collected and used locally, with any surplus sold to the grid. Renewable energy battery storage ensures that renewable energy is available whenever it is needed, rather than only when the weather conditions are favourable.

Nilar will use a €46 million loan from the European Investment Bank to expand from one to eight production lines.

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Catarina, an associate professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, had created a cloth coating of polymers that could absorb water molecules from the air at night, when temperatures were down, and then automatically ring it out the next day, when temperatures were higher.

Sponsh is the winner of a €50,000 cash prize from the special division in the European Investment Bank Institute's 2020 Social Innovation Tournament. Entrepreneurs that are developing companies that solve social issues are recognized in this competition. Sponsh will bring the money collected from the Social Creativity Tournament into a large-scale pilot project involving the planting of 1,000 trees with Sponsh tree guards as part of the AlVelAl land regeneration project in Almeria, Spain. The campaign is coordinated by Commonland.org, which is working to regenerate 180 000 hectares in the region. The company is designing and testing tree guards with special inserts that pull moisture from the air at night when it is cold, then release it during the day when the sun warms the guard and the air, supplying a sapling with 10 to 100 ml of water per day during its most vulnerable season. After a year or two of providing protection to a young tree, the guards will decay naturally.

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One of the first transactions made under the new legislation was the Ignitis scheme. According to Kazakevic, “Poland is becoming almost a trendy country for renewable energy investment.” She adds that the European Investment Bank's loan of about €60 million to the project illustrated "that we have investors with a green development agenda."

A portfolio of 66 small-scale, self-contained photovoltaic plants distributed throughout the country's northern and central regions. This €18 million deal with another Lithuanian firm, asset manager Lords LB, was also backed by EFSI and will save 47 000 tonnes of CO2 each year.

The European Commission's climate change strategy, launched in 2020, is focused on a promise to make Europe a net-zero emitter of greenhouse gases by 2050 and to demonstrate that economies will develop without increasing resource usage. However, the Green Deal has measures to ensure that nations that are already reliant on fossil fuels are not left behind in the transition to renewable energy. This is critical for Poland, which has a large coal industry.

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In 2020, the European Investment Bank accepted a €95 million loan to assist Barcelona in the completion of approximately 40 projects, with an emphasis on climate change and social inequity. The city plans to redevelop streets to create more space for pedestrians and bicyclists, enhance building energy efficiency, and expand social, cultural, and recreational opportunities.

The European Investment Bank is assisting cities in the development of long-term strategies in fields including renewable transportation, energy efficiency, sustainable housing, education, and health care. The Bank has spent more than €150 billion in bettering cities over the last eight years.

Berriochoa adds that Barcelona chooses the European Investment Bank to fund these ventures because it needs to partner with an environment bank. “They want green financing and this is what we provide. We can help them meet their climate goals.”

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When terrestrial networks are disrupted by natural disasters such as storms or earthquakes, satellites that take photographs of climate change assist civilians and emergency responders. In the event of a pandemic, they remotely bind remote patients or those living in rural areas to health care providers. They will have statistics on the risks of global warming, as well as the European Investment Bank's success in mitigating it.

D-ION Orbit's satellite carrier has secured a €15 million loan from the European Investment Bank. The funding is part of a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Investment Bank and the European Space Agency that was signed in 2018.

Each of the miniature CubeSats weighs a few kilograms. Other types of payloads, such as technologies created by start-ups, academic organisations, and space firms that need to test and verify a technology in space before commercialisation, are also feasible.

The organization also developed a D3 (D-Orbit Decommissioning Device) system, which has obtained funding from the European Commission and the European Space Agency, to safely dispose of satellites at the end of their lives and avoid adding to the problems created by the approximately 130 million pieces of space debris. According to D-Orbit, a space circular economy is feasible, and space recycling will soon be a new sector. This will involve using local resources such as dead satellites to create spaceships in space.

D-Orbit is a successful alumnus of the European Space Agency's Lisbon incubator, and the two firms collaborated on Project Sunrise, an active debris removal project, in 2019.

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In cooperation with Switzerland's Plantahof, the Swiss Agricultural School Caucasus will offer short and long-term courses in cattle breeding and dairy production. It will run its own cheese factory and dairy farm as a non-profit private venture, with financing given by the Bank of Georgia, as well as funds from Swiss and Georgian donors, the Swiss Department for Development and Collaboration, and the United Nations Development Programme.

The European Investment Bank signed a €50 million loan deal with the Bank of Georgia for SMEs and mid-caps, which will be partly disbursed in 2020. Bank of Georgia further loans the funds to nearby businesses, such as the Swiss Agricultural School Caucasus.

“In Georgia, SMEs are a key part of the economy,” Berkhoff says. “We demonstrate that SMEs benefit from the cooperation between Georgia and the EU. To back them, we work hand in hand with the EU Delegation and the Commission under the Eastern Partnership framework”.

Team Europe, an EU package committed to delivering COVID-19 assistance to Georgia and other member countries, includes the European Investment Bank Group. This entails new support that is made available efficiently and in more flexible terms to assist companies in handling and emerging from the crisis. The EU Bank signed an additional loan of €25 million with the Bank of Georgia in December 2020, thanks to Team Europe and in compliance with the EIB's COVID-19 emergency measures, and added adjustable eligibility requirements to the operation with a total amount of €75 million.

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Sensors that determine nutrient levels in the soil, assess air humidity, and track crops before they are harvested are making precision farming a possibility. Artificial intelligence-driven data is analysed by data systems and translated into interactive maps for farmers. Farmers can grow more for less by using less water and gasoline, as well as less pesticides and fertilisers. And there would be less emissions.

SDF's farm equipment, machinery, and logistics research and development is funded by a €50 million EIB loan secured by the European Fund for Strategic Investments. The initiative is part of Horizon 2020 and is in accordance with the Paris Agreement's objectives.

Matteo Fusari, an EIB senior engineer who worked on the project, says, "We expect this project to have quite a good environmental impact." “It allows for vehicle automation and monitoring from a distance. These innovations will increase the efficiency of bioeconomy supply chains, in addition to reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.”

SDF has developed its own digital portal, the SDF Data Platform, to transform the commodity cycle and build a larger, greener working ecosystem. SDF tractors can interface with the platform using an ISOBUS basic protocol, which is a common language that can be interpreted by a variety of devices. Farmers can view fleet, farm, and field data from a single location at any time. Thanks to the availability of this data and the underlying analytical methods, SDF is able to deliver easy and useful knowledge to its consumers in order to optimize performance while reducing input resources and preserving the environment.

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Soil Steam developed a rolling steam factory that could heat the world to 80 degrees Celsius down to 25 centimetres in ten years.

A temperature of 80 degrees Celsius is sufficient to destroy weed seeds, nematodes, and various fungi while not totally sterilizing the soil. They were astounded by the findings. In several cases, yields rose by 75 percent, and the gains continued for many seasons.

In 2016, SoilSteam was created. By 2021, the firm will have four devices in the field: three in Europe and one in California, as part of University of California-Davis study. By 2022, SoilSteam plans to have 18 devices operational, with the aim of scaling up as soon as possible.

The European Investment Bank's 2020 Social Innovation Tournament focuses on entrepreneurs whose ventures support society. SoilSteam was one of the finalists of this tournament.

Oystein Fredriksen treated his 12 hectares of carrot fields using SoilSteam International’s machine in the autumn of 2019, and found that the carrots had a longer shelf life than typical carrots.

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Sandunelu and Europlant, as small agricultural growers, benefited from the European Investment Bank scheme, which provides €120 million in financing to local businesses by intermediary banks in Moldova.

Customers expressed a clear preference for packed vegetables as street markets were closed across Moldova during the pandemic, reducing the chance of virus spread. Over the pandemic, both firms saw substantial improvements in revenue because they were able to satisfy demand with innovative technologies for sorting and packaging, as well as ample vegetable storage capacity.

Sandunelu, a carrot, onion, and beetroot grower, was awarded €492 000 by Mobiasbanca, which is backed by the European Investment Bank. Business consulting assistance was also given to the firm, which aided in the preparation of loan paperwork.

Moldova is known for its grapes and walnuts, and is one of the top ten apple exporters in the world. However, because of the long-term emphasis on fruit, vegetables are often imported.

Europlant, a family-owned company, was founded by Radu Grosu. He received funds from the Garden of Moldova as well as a credit guarantee from the European Investment Bank for 50% of his debt. This guarantee protects loans to creative small companies under the InnovFin scheme at no further expense to the borrower.

Sandunelu produces about 60% of the onions and carrots sold in Moldovan supermarkets.

Europlant, an onion and potato grower, received €720,000 from the European Union via ProCredit Bank for the building of a warehouse near Moldova's capital, Chisinau.

The Moldovan horticulture industry, which is almost entirely made up of small and medium-sized enterprises, is supported by the Fruit Garden of Moldova scheme. The initiative is part of the European Union's assistance to Moldova, and it seeks to promote trade and economic growth, as well as agriculture and rural production.

The Association Agreement between Moldova and the European Union, signed in 2014, includes the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), which lays the groundwork for Moldova's entry to the EU market for its goods and services.

Shipments of preserved vegetables to the European Union rose by 455 percent between 2014 and 2016, while exports of Moldovan preserved fruits and nuts more than doubled, and chestnut sales nearly tripled. Between 2015 and 2019, the proportion of Moldovan exports to Europe increased from about 50% to 68 percent.

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PlasticFri focuses on environmental plastic waste. The inventors have developed a new form of biomaterial that resembles traditional plastic and is manufactured from renewable materials such as plant waste. This is entirely free of petroleum and can be produced using existing equipment to produce low-cost, non-toxic plastic goods such as cups, bags and wrapping film.

The PlasticFri products went into commercial production in 2020, and the substance has been certified as meeting European standard EN 13432, which states taht compostable plastics must disintegrate after 12 weeks and completely biodegrade after six months.

PlasticFri came in second place in the EIB Institute's 2020 Social Innovation Tournament, winning €20,000 to help them achieve their targets.

One of the honors and recognitions the organization has earned in recent years is being named one of 1000 effective ways to preserve and protect the atmosphere by the Solar Impulse Foundation in July.

Allen clarified that PlasticFri is cost-effective; its processing decreases CO2 emissions by up to 86 percent as compared to traditional plastic, and that a PlasticFri cup can be recycled, saving the value of the trees that were cut down to produce the paper and leading to a circular economy.

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Decades-old air monitoring stations are often big (about the size of a small van), costly, and scarce. Robert found that there were just 15 stations monitoring the air quality in his hometown of Hamburg, Germany, which has a population of 1.8 million inhabitants.

The scope of the air pollution crisis is enormous: 90 percent of the world's population breathes dirty air to some degree. Although the health consequences are important, the way the problem is handled is often haphazard.

Breeze Technologies created tracking systems the size of a small water bottle that can be attached to a lamppost or a building's hand. By transferring data from the monitor to the cloud, Breeze Technologies was able to make their sensors 50 000 times smaller and 1000 times cheaper than a traditional air-quality monitoring station.Since monitors are small and inexpensive, they can be used in large numbers to form a network.

Breeze Technologies analyzes the data collected by its monitors in real time using artificial intelligence. In addition, the system recommends smart measures, such as traffic rerouting, to increase urban air quality as soon as possible. In addition, the organization has devices to track indoor air quality, as well as ventilation information solutions for health problems such as COVID-19.

Breeze Technologies was a finalist in the EIB Institute's 2020 Social Innovation Tournament, which encourages sustainable and social entrepreneurship through innovative thinking. Robert and Sascha were named to Forbes' list of 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs in 2018.

Breeze Technologies has developed a Citizen Portal that offers free air-quality updates to everyone who needs it, using data from its network of sensors as well as data from government agencies. Currently, coverage is restricted to many German cities, including Hamburg, Cologne, and Berlin, but Robert claims that as the company's network expands, so will the interactive map's coverage. The clients decide if they want to share the infromation coming from their sensors or not.

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Niger needs assistance to boost its water quality. Clean drinking water is scarce by global standards, with significant differences between urban and rural areas. In the UN Human Development Index, Niger is at the bottom. Drought and desertification affect many countries. Of course, clean water is important for a safe society and economy. 92 percent of the population lives in rural areas in the Tillabéri region along the western frontier, and there is a chronic scarcity of clean water, particularly during the hot season, when temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

With the help of a donation fund from the Dutch government, the EIB is collaborating with the Niger water authority to find solutions to Niger's water issues. The World Bank identified Niger as one of the 18 fragile regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. The EU bank has a history of investing in regions like these.

Just 40% of the 30,000 inhabitants in Téra, a city northwest of the country's capital of Niamey and near to the Burkina Faso border, have access to a working public water infrastructure.

Société de Patrimoine des Eaux du Niger (SPEN), Niger's water authority, opened ten boreholes and built a water treatment plant in 2018 to provide potable water to Téra and the surrounding areas. The water supply ran out about a year later, and the water treatment facility was forced to close.

The European Investment Bank and the Niger Water Authority are looking at two options for dealing with Téra's water shortages. The first choice is to repair the water tank on the outskirts of town. Another choice is to treat and transport water from the Niger River, which is located more than 100 kilometers to the east. Villages between Téra and the Niger River will also have access to sewage.The Bank will also look at renewable energy as a way to save costs.