The EIB, represented by Vice-Presidents Lilyana Pavlova and Ambroise Fayolle as well as the Head of the EIB Prague Office Nathalie Binet, and Andrea Ferjencikova, joined the Prague European Summit 2020 on 18 and 19 November to discuss with Czech and European partners common responses to current and future challenges for the European Union, such as climate change and the post-pandemic recovery.
How can we ensure that all member states will support the EU’s climate goals? What should the roadmap of the EU’s decarbonisation look like? How will the COVID-19 pandemic impact the EU’s climate ambition, and can the Green Deal serve as a basis for sustainable economic recovery? were some of the questions addressed by EIB Vice-President Fayolle and fellow panellists including Dušan Chrenek, Principal Advisor of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action and Pavel Zámyslický, Director of the Department of Climate Change of the Czech Republic Environment Ministry, in the session ”The European Green Deal: A Fresh Wind for the EU’s Global Climate Leadership’.
During his intervention, Ambroise Fayolle explained how the freshly approved EIB Climate Bank Roadmap will support the EU Green Deal and in particular the ‘just transition’ of regions that are most affected by the shift to a low-carbon economy, and that are most vulnerable to the negative impacts of a changing climate.
To complement this message, EIB Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova detailed all the support that the EIB has been providing to get climate resilient urban projects off the ground in the session ‘How Can the European Cities Help the Green Transition?’. She highlighted EIB’s contribution, through financing and advisory support to sectors particularly relevant for cities, such as circular economy, water and waste management, building rehabilitation and sustainable mobility. She was joined in the discussion by Zdeněk Hřib, the Mayor of Prague, Judith Blake, Leader of Council and Executive Member for Economy and Culture at the Leeds City Council, and Jakub Dvořák, Country Manager for Czech Republic of Bolt.
EIB Prague Office also represented the Bank in panels dedicated to the EU’s approach to decarbonisation and just transition and to European sustainable finance initiatives.
Nathalie Binet, the Head of the EIB Prague Office, represented the EU bank in the panel ‘Decarbonisation and Just Transition: Rethinking the EU’s Approach #Society’ where she highlighted the role of the EIB in the Just Transition Mechanism.
Finally, Andrea Ferjencikova, Institutional Officer at the EIB Prague Office participated in a lunch session reflecting on what more could Europe do to drive the sustainable finance agenda.
About the Prague European Summit
The Prague European Summit connects public officials, business and NGO representatives, academics and journalists to discuss topics such as EU leadership, security, new technologies and digital age, current economic & foreign policy challenges, or the impact of various policies and trends on the European society. The Prague European Summit has been taking place regularly since 2015. Organizers of the Summit are EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy and Institute of International Relations Prague, the prominent international relations-oriented research institutions in the Czech Republic. Summit is organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Office of the Government of the Czech Republic and the Municipality of Prague and in cooperation with the Commission Representation in the Czech Republic.
More information on the EIB and Czech Republic
