On Thursday, February 21, the Atlantic Council’s Global Business and Economics Program’s EuroGrowth Initiative and the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.co-hosted a roundtable discussion on the economic and energy transition to a low-carbon society.
Ms. Emma Navarro, Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) discussed the EIB’s role as a leading institution spurring the transformation towards a greener economy in Europe and elsewhere. The EIB has provided innovative financial tools to fight climate change, including the world’s first “green” bonds in 2007. Since then, the EIB has issued more than roughly €20bn ($24.36bn) worth of the so-called Climate Awareness Bonds (CAB), whose proceeds have helped finance more than 160 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects all over the world. Ms. Navarro also discussed the EIB’s strategic plans for the future, including the issuance of new “Sustainability Awareness Bonds” and ambitious lending targets.
Mr. David Livingston, Deputy Director of Climate and Advanced Energy at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center led the subsequent discussion which touched on a variety of issues, including the role of multilateral development banks in supporting innovation and risk-taking projects, best practices in the United States and Europe, the role of disruptive technology, and potential areas of cooperation between the public and private sectors to facilitate the energy transition.