On 21 April President Hoyer addressed Finance Ministers of the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) and said it is urgent to respond to their call to action on climate investment and adaptation finance. The Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group includes Finance Ministers of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a dedicated cooperation initiative including 55 climate vulnerable economies with a combined population of 1.4 billion people.

President Hoyer said that the European Investment Bank (EIB), as the EU Climate Bank, takes this call very seriously. He illustrated the EIB’s Climate Adaptation Plan, which sets out how the EIB will increase its support for projects that protect people, businesses and ecosystems from the impact of climate change.  

EIB President Werner Hoyer said: “We will increase our financing for adaptation to reach 15% of our climate action by 2025, almost trebling the Bank’s adaptation finance compared to the 2015-2020 period. The EIB will also strengthen its upstream engagement, providing targeted advisory services to clients and supporting smarter and more systemic adaptation projects.”

President Hoyer said that the EIB has established a specialised development finance arm, EIB Global, to increase the impact of the Bank’s operations worldwide and provide tailored support to vulnerable regions.

Through our increased presence on the ground and even closer cooperation with partners, we will support solutions to protect people, businesses, and ecosystems in vulnerable regions. Partnerships are key to EIB Global operations, even more so when it comes to adaptation. We look forward to establishing closer ties with the V20 as we head towards COP27,” said Hoyer.

The V20 conference took place during the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG). 

Background information

The European Investment Bank (EIB) finances projects in four priority areas: infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Formed in 2015, the V20 Group of Finance Ministers is a dedicated cooperation initiative of economies systematically vulnerable to climate change. It is currently chaired by the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The V20 membership stands at 55 economies including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, the Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Kiribati, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, Saint Lucia, Senegal, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Yemen.