EIB and GIZ renew partnership to boost climate action

The partnership between EIB and GIZ builds on the successful Financing Energy for Low-carbon Investment – Cities Advisory Facility (FELICITY) and City Climate Finance Gap Fund joint initiatives, helping cities to establish and finance sustainable infrastructure projects. In 2022, the institutions will also explore cooperation under the EIB’s newly established Green Hydrogen Fund to promote sustainable development and decarbonisation through the sustainable production and application of green hydrogen and its derivatives in partner countries and territories eligible to receive official development assistance (ODA).

In addition, EIB and GIZ today launched the FELICITY II - Eastern Partnership and Central Asia project implementation agreement aiming to support the preparation and implementation of low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure projects, mainly in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Uzbekistan. Under FELICITY II, funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI), GIZ and the EIB will cooperate to accelerate investments in particular in the water, wastewater and energy efficiency sectors.  

Chair of the GIZ Management Board Tanja Gönner said: “The European Investment Bank is an important international player in the field of climate finance and a respected partner for development finance. I am very pleased to continue and deepen GIZ’s cooperation with the EIB. Both institutions complement each other, combining technical assistance with financing power to jointly tackle the challenges of climate change and sustainable development.”

EIB President Werner Hoyer said: “I am delighted to intensify our excellent collaboration with GIZ. We have already successfully joined forces to support greener and more resilient cities through FELICITY and the City Climate Finance Gap Fund. With EIB Global, our new branch for international development and partnerships, we want to strengthen such collaborations to tackle the climate crisis and scale up development impact around the world.”

The cooperation will prioritise climate adaptation and mitigation, with a focus on rapidly growing cities and low-carbon service infrastructure.

The partnership also foresees joint technical and financial support for renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as solid waste management, water and wastewater treatment with a view to reducing marine litter.

Furthermore, EIB and GIZ seek to contribute to advance digital transformation by enhancing connectivity and reducing the digital divide to ensure no one is left behind.

FELICITY currently supports the preparation of ten urban investment projects. The FELICITY pilots in Mexico, Indonesia, Ecuador and Brazil have an estimated investment volume of €322 million and are expected to reduce emissions to up to 1.98 million tCO₂eq over 15 years. They range from energy efficiency in public buildings and hospitals in Mexico City and improvement of the stormwater network and sewerage system in several cities in Ecuador, to solar photovoltaic energy in the schools of Porto Alegre and bus rapid transit in Indonesia.

As of March 2022, under the City Climate Finance Gap Fund the EIB and GIZ have approved support for 22 municipalities located in Latin America, North and sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Eastern and South-eastern Europe. Those projects include greening roofs, improving the management of stormwater systems, generating biogas from organic waste, developing urban forestry and designing safe and climate friendly streets.