Environmental organizations require EBRD to stop funding coal plants
Non-governmental organizations involved in this week consultations on the energy policy of EBRD require the bank to stop funding new projects based on the use of fossil fuels, mainly coal. In recent months the other large state financial institutions (such as the World Bank or the European Investment Bank) significantly tightened their policy of funding the plants which affect the climate adversely. However, the EBRD has not followed suit yet.
The international NGOs concerned with the climate protection participate in the public consultations. Among them there is CEE Bankwatch Network, World Wildlife Fund, about 350 international non-governmental organizations, as well as regional organizations from the Balkans, for example SEE Change Net, CEKOR and Fractal. For the time being 16,661 people have already signed the petition and handed it over to the bank appealing to give up carbon financing. A similar consultation has already taken place this Monday in Istanbul, another one will be held in Moscow on Friday.
As the coordinator of EBRD Fidanka Baheva McGrath said, the new energy policy of the bank aims at a sustainable development, so the transition to a low-carbon economy is the main task of the financial institution. Nevertheless, in practice it turns out that the coal production investments are limited only to a minor extent.
According to the report of CEE Bankwatch Network representatives, from 2006 to 2011 under the current energy policy of EBRD the amount allocated annually by the bank for crediting coal projects increased from 60 to 262 million euro. Over these years the loans for investing in fossil fuels constituted 48 percent in the energy portfolio of the bank. CEE Bankwatch Network appreciates that in Poland the bank does not participate in carbon investments, at least unofficially. However, according to environmental organizations, the bank must also do away with any activities which directly affect the coal industry development. For example, it refers to the loan from EBRD for the development of electricity distribution network by ENEI company, which builds the new coal-fired units in Kozhenitse.
As the coordinator of the Energy Department in CEE Bankwatch Network Cuba Gogolevskiy told, the bank provides loans to large associations of the Treasury that build or plan to build new coal-fired units, allowing them to move the capital from such segments as the distribution of energy (where it is relatively easy to obtain financing from private banks) or through the issuance of bonds for financing the production of coal energy. If these companies didn’t get loans from EBRD, they would have to cancel their most risky and unprofitable projects. The new coal power plants are just among these projects.
Nordic Investment Bank is one of the financial institutions which excluded the investments for the development of fossil fuel sector from its loan portfolio.
