Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix at "Innovation for a sustainable and resilient future"

Good afternoon,

Dear all,

It is a great pleasure to be here with you.

Thank you so much for taking the afternoon to join us.

I am proud that the European Investment Bank has joined in the organisation of this conference with ISEG, counting on the high patronage of our President of the Portuguese Republic, Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

Unfortunately, President Marcelo is not able to join us here live.

I would like to thank him, whole-heartedly for his support and for his kind words in the video that he addresses to you after my intervention.

Thank you Mr President.

It was our belief, mine and of his Excellence the President of Republic, when we met back in March, that a practical discussion on the critical role of innovation to reach a sustainable, resilient and just transition is of the essence in Portugal and in Europe.

Bring together new protagonists and stakeholders.

And here we are.

 

The transition to a carbon-free economy is a legacy that we are tasked to build for the next generations.

To the younger generation already present in this room and the following ones.

A transition that must be just.

A transition that leaves no one behind.

Today, we discussed the key role of public policy institutions, and in particular public policy banks. Like the European Investment Bank or Banco Português de Fomento.

Today, we debated the key role of a close and permanent cooperation with academia. With the universities. With the research centers. And with the private sector. These are the engines powering investigation of cutting-edge technologies.

The technologies that will shape the future carbon free globe.

With the private investors that put their money at risk to innovate.

With entrepreneurs and innovators that put their best knowledge at the service of developing innovative technologies.

All are essential parties to fight this peaceful war.

The fight to build a sustainable, resilient and just transition to a carbon-free economy.

 

It is no secret that with the technology we are using today we will not succeed in the transition to a carbon free economy by 2050.

We have a short time span to create the future. And this is the time.

To disseminate the new technologies and bring them from pilot test stage to industrial level dissemination.

To make dreams come true.

And we can do it. Yes we can.

But… More important, it is the time to walk the talk … to bring to live visible and tangible projects that make it happen.

To put the commitment to climate and innovation to work faster and more effectively.

And that was the challenge we raised to our high-level speakers and panelists today. Not a small thing.

 

I am grateful to our Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal. Herself one of the most recognised Portuguese scientists, for offering us her views in the inaugural intervention.

Dear minister, the European Investment Bank is fully committed to support you and your innovation policies for the twin transition in Portugal.

I would like to thank Professora Clara Raposo, Dean of ISEG, and our host, for all the support and energy she provided since a phone call back in May.

I must declare here a conflict of interest. I am a proud alumnus of ISEG. It is very special to be back at my school.

This school is doing a great job in building knowledge and research on the issues of sustainable and inclusive development.

Congratulations Clara for being a key driver of this trend.

I want to thank our distinguished keynote speakers, Mr. Bertrand Piccard and Professor Arlindo Oliveira.

Thank you for your inspiring keynotes and for showing us the power of humankind when we put it to work for fighting the right battles.

And to our panelists for the excellent debate and invaluable insights you provided, calling our attention to the role of public policy and innovation ecosystems.

Finally, and last but not least, a big thank you to all EIB staff that worked with me over the last six months to make this happen.

 

Dear all,

Never the discussion about the way we produce, distribute and consume energy has been so high in the agenda.

Not for the best of the reasons. I know.

The key response to the current energy crisis is a diversification of energy supplies and to strongly boost energy efficiency. In the short, in the medium and in the long run.

The acceleration of all sources of renewable energy in different shapes and forms is key to diversify and fully replace fossil fuels.

To build a carbon free world, but also to ensure a structural energy autonomy.

We cannot subdue our values to those using energy and food supply as mass destruction weapons.

And, most and above all, a large boost in energy efficiency is of paramount importance.

The cheapest energy is not renewable energy.

The cheapest energy is the energy that does not even need to be produced, because it is not consumed.

This is what lies in the top of the European Investment Bank agenda.

The European Investment Bank is deeply committed to make it happen.

To foster a successful green transition.

To strengthen economic growth, security, and climate action for Europe and for the globe.

We aligned financing activities with the Paris agreement.

We stop financing any unabated fossil fuels project since 2021, including fully dedicated natural gas projects.

From 2025 onwards, we will devote more than 50% financing to fight climate change and promote mitigation. We are already close in 2022.

This means €30 billion per year to mobilise more than €100 billion of investment for climate action and environmental sustainability.

This means almost €15 billion per year to support renewable energy deployment.

But let’s be realistic.

We know that only half of the technologies necessary to implement the green transition are already established.

The other half is not yet established or stands at an early stage of development.

We need to work together to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and just economy.

We all stand together.

A prosper and fair Europe needs to lead the next wave of industrial transformation.

Needs to be a leader in both green and digital transformation.

Needs to support innovation and the disruptive ideas of the future.

But also needs to disseminate existing new technologies that will be a key success factor.

The potential of the disruptive ideas of the last ten years still needs to be fully materialise.

Europe is today a leader on climate innovation, on green technologies.

But there is still a visible gap versus the US and Asia in digital technologies, like artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data.

Innovation in the XXI century is largely based on digital technologies.

We need to provide access to financing to these projects.

We know. Innovation and disruptive projects are by essence riskier.

And we know that the private sector is a key driver of innovation and research & development.

The role of public policy banks is offering increased access to funding to the most innovative, but also risky projects.

To bridge financing gaps and supporting innovation, crowding-in private investors.

With our instruments and our expertise, European Investment Bank can share the risk in disruptive and risky projects.

With our quality stamp, we crowd in private investors to projects otherwise too risky for their appetite.

This is what we bring. Two key production factors for innovation: patience and risk-sharing capacity.

As mentioned by Jean Christophe Laloux, the EIB is already supporting giga battery factories and artificial intelligence improving energy efficiency, but also to modernise the traditional sectors, as stressed by Celeste Hagatong.

We know how to do it and how to support it.

Private investors trust us.

They know what we are doing. And they know we do it well.

Let me give you a concrete example.

In the first panel, we listened to Rui Teixeira, the CFO of EDP and we heard about the successful cases and the challenges we face today and the key role of RePowerEU.

EDP Renováveis is a pioneer in offshore wind floating and now in offshore floating solar.

Floating offshore wind is a rapidly growing technology with a large potential.

80% of offshore wind resources are located in waters deeper than 60 meters, where fixed-bottom structures are not economically viable.

Floating offshore platforms can be installed in almost any marine environment.

They are friendly to marine life and have a greater energy output.

The European Investment Bank financed Windfloat. A pioneer project in Europe in 2018 and the first floating wind project financed by the bank.

It is off the coast of Viana do Castelo, here in Portugal.

It started as a joint venture by EDP Renováveis and other players and with €60 million funding from the European Investment Bank.

This is a blueprint, a truly blue one, of how the EU and a public policy bank shared the risk of rolling out an innovative solution developed by the private sector based on a cutting-edge risky technology.

This example illustrates the need and the role of breakthrough technologies to accelerate the clean energy transition in Europe and to lead the global fight against climate change.

Based on this successful experience, the European Investment Bank is now financing new floating offshore wind energy projects in France.

This is a growing industry with more projects reaching maturity in several countries.

We must work together in concepts like this for other areas.

Think about RePowerEU, the initiative announced by the European Commission as a political response to the acute energy crisis triggered by the intolerable Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The European Investment Bank Group has a strong record of accomplishment in all the building blocks of RePowerEU.

We have a strong track record in renewables and in electricity grids.

We have a strong track record in energy efficiency.

And we have a strong track record in innovation as in floating offshore and also in green hydrogen.

Green hydrogen can play a key role as a substitute for natural gas in industrial use. We should plan our grids to allow for dual use, so that they power the transition.

We know many of these investments are not yet fully economically viable.

They need to be properly supported by public grants to become bankable.

Public policy banks can play a key role in blending bank lending with budget grants to support the most advanced and valuable projects in hydrogen value chain.

Delivering on REPowerEU requires additional investment of €210 billion up to 2027 according to the European Commission estimates.

Cutting Russian fossil fuel imports can save us €100 billion per year.

RePowerEU investments must be met by the private and public sector, at national, cross-border and European Union level.

At the European Investment Bank we are preparing our contribution to  RePowerEU.

In this context, we are currently discussing further increasing EIB funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency. An increase up to €30 billion by 2027.

This will allow the European Investment Bank to mobilise up to €100 billion of additional investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency by 2027.

By mobilising all stakeholders, by improving liquidity conditions, by supporting more innovative and risky projects, by collaborating with those deploying photovoltaic power plants, wind farms and charging stations but also floating offshore wind.

The Portuguese private sector is a key partner for the green transitions and for enhancing the strategic autonomy of Portugal.

 

We also need to look to the Equity side of the problem.

We heard the main challenges Venture Capital funds face.

Scaling up firms, require more equity driven solutions.

I thank Lurdes Gramaxo, President of Investors Portugal, to share her views and challenges with us today.

Lurdes Gramaxo told us how important it is a predictable investment framework for venture capital investors.

Governments and regulators play a key role in this respect. Bottlenecks exist and removing barriers is critical to unleash venture capital potential as Mr Piccard also told us.

This is an ecosystem we continue to support.

We have so many success stories that were supported by the European Investment Fund in Portugal. Also through the partnerships between the EIF and Banco Portugal de Fomento.

Many successful examples came from these partnerships: from Portugal Tech I to Portugal Growth.

Some of these success stories turned out into the Portuguese Unicorns.

Success stories like Sword Health and Anchorage were invested by Portuguese fund managers under Portugal Tech I partnership. Now they have worldwide presence.

We also lunched Portugal Blue to the blue economy ecosystem. This is another milestone.

Blue Economy solutions are at the heart of the climate discussion, and needless to say, Portugal and Europe, play a pivotal role in this area.

 

Dear all,

Portugal has more unicorns than Spain and Italy together. These unicorns with, have together reached a market valuation of more than 30 billion Euros.

These are success stories. This is what happens when talent meets funding.

This is the reason why public policy players need to continue supporting the venture and private equity ecosystems to foster and grow.

We cannot stop now when market conditions are tightening, and liquidity is reducing.

Please don´t stop.

We can not walk alone.

The European Investment Bank stands ready to continue to build the extremely successful partnership we have.

We have the right instruments in place for that.

Here in Portugal, Portugal Growth and Portugal Tech I were a huge success.

The European Investment Bank is ready to implement with Banco Português the Fomento Portugal Tech II, the successor of Portugal Tech I and other future partnerships.

We need to take the risk of the most innovative projects. With the awareness that this is the only way to make a difference.

With successes but also learning from failure.

This is what happens when you invest in innovation.

This is what public policy banks, like the European Investment Bank and Banco Português de Fomento were made for.

To mobilise public resources. To crowd in private investment for the most innovative projects. For those with more potential.

 

It’s all about sharing the risk of innovation.

To fund innovation and walk on the wild side with innovators.

So that innovative ideas can emerge and spread.

And move from academia to the manufacturing plant environment.

The link between industry and academia is key.

In the last ten years, in Portugal, most of the newly established companies have one characteristic in common: they were either incubated in centres of research and innovation inside or outside universities.

Two of the Portuguese unicorns:

• SwordHealth was incubated in University of Aveiro
• Feedzai was incubated in Instituto Pedro Nunes in Coimbra

and many more can come, if Portugal Tech II is in place soon.

These partnerships with academia are key.

As well stressed by Professor Arlindo Oliveira, artificial intelligence as a general purpose technology has a huge potential to improve energy efficiency and support climate adaptation.

 

Dear all,

Let me conclude.

We need to have the courage to step up.

We need to have and the ambition to support economic transformation in an adverse environment.

This was an imperative of Bertrand Piccard's inspiring keynote address.

On how new technologies can be used to overcome the challenges we face.

How important it is to think outside the box and destroy the status quo to innovate.

The European Investment Bank is committed to this.

To make possible the impossible as Mr Piccard put it.

To support the transformation to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy requires investment in fundamental technology change.

We need to accelerate the technological change to make the transition to a greener industry possible.

Not only for environmentally sustainable development, but also for global sustainable development.

This is the enormous challenge to which we are summoned.

Thank you very much!