NIB President: Climate change action needs money despite financial crisis

NIB has allocated half of its EUR 1 billion facility to fight climate change  

“The world cannot postpone environmental targets even in the current global financial crisis. But the difficulties will increase, also when it comes to financing. Under the current circumstances, the private sector could view its ability to develop environmental projects and bear the respective risk as diminished,” said Johnny Åkerholm, President and CEO of NIB at the Nordic Climate Solutions conference in Copenhagen today.

“However, it is important to see that environmental projects are long-term investments which should be carried out in both good and bad times. General awareness of environmental problems and changes in relative prices caused by government intervention encourage this thinking,” he explained.  

“In the current situation, the role of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), such as the Nordic Investment Bank, is highlighted. They are publicly owned institutions driven by mandate rather than profit. The IFIs play an especially important role in providing financing in accordance with these mandates when other sources are unavailable. This activity should be maintained even if IFIs are called upon to complement the ailing financial system in other ways. For NIB, this means that we will continue to support the environment by promoting renewable energy, energy savings and related development work,” Mr Åkerholm added.

In line with this thinking,  NIB launched a new Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Facility (CLEERE) in February this year. Out of this overall facility of EUR 1 billion, EUR 447 million has already been allocated. As a whole, NIB is expecting to achieve in 2008 the fastest expansion of its lending activities ever, and the current projections point to disbursements in excess of EUR 2.5 billion for the year as a whole.

NIB is a multilateral financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please call:
Mr Johnny Åkerholm, President and CEO, at +358 10 618 001
Mr Jukka Ahonen, Director, Head of Communications, at +358 10 618 0295, jukka.ahonen@nib.int