Statement: The Energy Sector Strategy 2024–2028 Must Mark the End of the EBRD's Support to Fossil Fuels
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is due to publish a new Energy Sector Strategy before the end of 2023. A total of 130 civil society organizations from over 40 countries have released a statement calling on the EBRD to end finance for all fossil fuels, including gas.
From 2018 to 2021, the EBRD invested EUR 2.9 billion in the fossil energy sector, with the majority of this support going to gas. This makes it the third biggest funder of fossil fuels among all multilateral development banks, behind the World Bank Group and the Islamic Development Bank.
The EBRD has already excluded coal and upstream oil and gas fields from its financing. The draft Energy Sector Strategy further excludes oil transportation and oil-fired electricity generation. However, the draft strategy would continue to allow some investment in new fossil gas pipelines and other transportation infrastructure, as well as gas power generation and heating.
In the statement, the civil society organizations point out that any new support to gas risks locking in outdated energy infrastructure in places that need investments in clean energy the most. At the same time, they highlight, ending support to fossil gas is necessary, not only for climate security, but also for ensuring energy security, since continued investment in gas exposes countries of operation to high and volatile energy prices that can have a severe impact on their ability to reach development targets. Moreover, they underscore that supporting new gas transportation infrastructure is not a solution to the current energy crisis, given that new infrastructure would not come online for several years, well after the crisis has passed.
The signatories of the statement call on the EBRD to amend the Energy Sector Strategy to
- fully exclude new investments in midstream and downstream gas projects;
- avoid loopholes involving the use of unproven or uneconomic technologies, as well as aspirational but meaningless mitigation measures such as "CCS-readiness"; and
- strengthen the requirements for financial intermediaries where the intended nature of the sub-transactions is not known to exclude fossil fuel finance across the entire value chain.
The signatories also call on the EBRD to join the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, also known as the Glasgow Statement on International Public Support for the Clean Energy Transition.
Participating experts
You might also be interested in
Out With the Old, Slow With the New
This report assesses progress made by Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) signatories on shifting finance from fossil fuels to clean energy.
September 2024 | Carbon Minefields Oil and Gas Exploration Monitor
Last month, 11 oil and gas exploration licences were awarded across three countries. Among these countries, Australia awarded licences with the largest volume of embodied emissions.
Manitoba Builds Green
This report investigates the potential to scale up a deep energy retrofit industry in Manitoba to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create good jobs, spur green industrial growth, and improve housing quality.
Senegal’s LNG Drive Is an Economic Gamble
Senegal’s plan to drive economic growth through exports of LNG—largely to Europe—is a gamble, new research warns, as forecasts indicate an imminent decline in international demand for gas.