The European Investment Bank’s woeful ‘green’ track record in Nepal

Ahead of the European Investment Bank’s board of directors meeting next Tuesday (15 October), it’s likely the bank’s green energy push will be a key topic of discussion.

In 2023, the Bank invested €49bn in the “green transition,” and has publicly called itself a “climate bank” that plans even more ambitious investments in this space in the coming years.

Before these efforts move forward however, the bank must take an honest look at its own troubling history on renewable energy projects — specifically, the projects it has funded that have harmed environments and communities, which have largely gone unaddressed.

Indeed, EIB has invested in a string of problematic hydropower projects, for which it neglected to adequately identify potential negative impacts of projects before they break ground, or invest in viable solutions to problems as they arise.

Read the full op-ed on EU Observer here.