We saw a win last week: on 10 December the board of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) adopted a new energy policy which effectively cuts out coal lending - except in ‘rare and exceptional' circumstances. This follows similar moves by the EIB, the World Bank, and the governments of the US, UK and all Nordic countries.
The EBRD has been a champion of energy efficiency and renewables investment in Eastern Europe and nearby regions; but its continued, albeit modest, lending to coal, for example for a new coal-fired power plant in Slovenia, has been an embarrassment.
According to E3G, the EBRD has also followed the EIB in stipulating that any assessment of a coal project’s economic feasibility will have to include the application of a shadow carbon price. As E3G put it, "This move indicates the Bank is concerned that as the world moves to a low carbon economy, any coal-fired plant financed now risk having to be retired before the end of their productive lives".
The board decision was apparently actively pushed by some key board members, including those representing the US and UK governments. I'm in Washington DC at the moment, within a short walk of the US Treasury building. Should I take them some flowers in appreciation?
