Behind the European Investment Bank’s Green Curtains: A review of the Climate Bank Roadmap

Framed as Europe’s flagship public bank for climate action, the European Investment Bank (EIB) positions itself as a key driver of the EU’s green transition, promising to mobilise €1 trillion in climate finance by 2030. But behind the rhetoric of sustainability, the bank’s approach often prioritises market-based solutions and corporate profits, at the expense of social justice and real climate action.

This report, “Behind EIB’s Green Curtains: A Review of the Climate Bank Roadmap”, examines how the EIB’s Climate Bank Roadmap shapes the bank’s lending practices. It reveals that while the EIB has increased its share of climate and environmental finance, fossil companies and banks still received € 10 billion in loans, false solutions like CCS and hydrogen from fossil fuels, and little attention for a just transformation both inside and outside Europe.

Through in-depth analysis, the report highlights how the EIB’s priority to increase derisking private investments to make projects more profitable risks undermining a full decarbonisation and a truly just transformation. Public resources are channelled to projects that serve corporate interests, while crucial investments in public services, climate adaptation, and community resilience remain underfunded. Yet, while the Bank pushes to increase support for the private sector (38% of projects), the public sector (45% of projects) is the main recipient of EIB climate finance.

This report calls for a fundamental shift in the EIB’s approach. Rather than continuing to prioritise profit-driven, market-based solutions, the Bank must recognise the key role and advantages of the public sector to provide climate measures that centre on public interest, equity, and climate justice in its operations. This means scaling up direct support for public services like affordable housing, clean energy, and sustainable transport; ending support for polluting business models and false solutions and ensuring that all climate investments genuinely benefit communities, workers, and the environment. To deliver a truly just transition, the EIB must move from derisking private profits to enabling systemic transformation.