Nadia Calviño, president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, highlighted the importance of investing in climate adaptation in her keynote message at the EC-EIB Adaptation Days in Nice, France on 6 June.
Good morning!
It’s a real pleasure for the second year running to welcome you to EIB Adaptation Days – bringing together experts from around the world dedicated to finding solutions and tackling the effects of climate change.
This year, as the United Nations Ocean Conference convenes in Nice, our focus is on the very important issue of coastal resilience.
Coastal regions and the communities who have built their livelihoods by the sea are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and increasingly intense extreme weather events, threaten health and food security, freshwater supplies, and precious biodiversity.
Climate adaptation has become an urgent necessity. The European Investment Bank is responding to the needs of coastal communities by financing projects that protect their shorelines, look after their natural habitats, and help make infrastructure stronger and more weather resistant.
Protecting ecosystems, and the well-being of people all over the world is also an economic imperative.
As we know, every one euro spent on climate adaptation, is €5 to €7 saved on repair and reconstruction further down the line.
As the financial arm of the European Union, the EIB’s mission is clear: to back the most vulnerable communities and their transition to a net-zero economy. And to seize the opportunities that this transition offers.
In practice, this means prioritising support for the territories, sectors and communities most affected by the impact of climate change, within the European Union and outside of it.
It means reinforcing our global partnerships for win-win solutions.
And it means staying the course.
The European Investment Bank Group is proud to be recognised as the climate bank.
Our investments in adaptation, mitigation, the energy transition as well as in environmental sustainability represented nearly 60% of our total financing last year.
The projects we supported – whether safeguarding communities on the Italian island of Ischia from floods, ensuring a reliable water supply in drought-affected Catalonia or further afield in Jordan – are essential for advancing the EU's goals of strategic autonomy, resilience, and competitiveness.
They are also contributing to stability and prosperity.
Climate change is a global challenge that knows no borders. That is why tackling it within the framework of a rules-based, multilateral system is more important than ever.
Investments in adaptation require long-term planning, close collaboration between partners. The decisions we make today about which projects to prioritize will have a huge impact on the future livelihoods of people and their communities.
By anticipating the effects of climate change and investing in sound adaptation measures, we can minimize damage, save lives, and build more resilient economies.
A final thought from me: Climate action and competitiveness go hand in hand – a fact that policy makers and financiers increasingly recognise. We must ensure, though, that our regulations are both effective and straightforward for businesses to follow.
Just as importantly, adapting to climate change is inseparable from social justice. Vulnerable communities, often the least responsible for climate change, bear the greatest burden of its impacts, reminding us of our shared responsibility to act.
To do this, we need to harness new ideas and approaches. Here, innovation plays a vital role. For example, by combining scientific research – such as advanced forecasting – with practical strategies, we can help coastal communities to adapt and protect the many social and economic activities they support.
If we work together, share our expertise, and build strong partnerships, we will find solutions together.
In that spirit, I wish you all very productive discussions ahead.