Philanthropy Advocacy participated in the European Investment Bank´s Board Seminar with Civil Society

On Tuesday 4 February 2020, Philanthropy Advocacy (DAFNE and EFC) participated at the annual seminar between the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Board of Directors and civil society organisations at the premises of the EIB in Luxembourg.

The seminar was organised within the framework of the civil society and stakeholder engagement policy of the EIB and as with every year, two topics were chosen for thematic sessions. This year, in the view of the new policy-makers in the European Institutions, and particularly the political priorities of the new European Commission, the chosen issues were “The European Green Deal and the EU Climate Bank: addressing the critical decade ahead” and “Supporting development through quality employment”. Thus, many of the participants represented CSOs (including several foundations) working on climate, development and social issues, however some of the organisations present also worked in the areas of research, finance and banking.

The EIB presented an overview of its progress since the last meeting and outlined its priorities for 2020. The EIB´s achievement, for which it earned a lot of praise during the seminar, was its new climate strategy and energy lending policy. The new strategy will end all financing for fossil fuel energy projects from the end of 2021 and will see  €1 trillion spent on climate action and environmental sustainable investment throughout the 2020’s in order to deliver upon the ambitions of the European Green Deal. A session on development and tackling poverty via employment was also introduced by the representative from the International Labour Organisation.

Participants working on social issues and human rights engaged in discussions regarding the social impact assessments done by the EIB when choosing a particular project to support. These discussions explored how the social impact assessment is done, and looked at the different stages from implementation to evaluation after the project is completed. Different examples were raised , including the Invest EU programme proposed by the European Commission to boost private and public investment in Europe in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027).

During the seminar the CSOs were also reminded about other avenues of engagement with EIB, such as the public consultations on its key policies. For 2020, the EIB has planned to open a public consultation on its transparency and anti-fraud policies.

Philanthropy Advocacy will continue to monitor and engage around the EIB´s policies.

Image courtesy of the European Investment Bank.