The climate bank of the European Union

The European Investment Bank

wants to stop the increase in the world’s temperature.

The increase in temperatures is called climate change.

It causes extreme weather.

Sometimes it is hotter than usual.

Sometimes it is colder.

Often climate change causes extreme storms.

We invest billions of euros

in projects that protect the environment.

The projects reduce the emission of gases

that flow into the atmosphere.

These gases trap the sun’s heat

and makes the Earth get warmer.

This is called the greenhouse effect.

We lend money to governments,

so that they can help their citizens

adapt to the effects of climate change.

We also lend to companies and governments

for projects that slow down

the increase in temperatures.

The European Green Deal

We work with other institutions

of the European Union

to solve the climate change problem together.

Europe wants to stop releasing

greenhouse gases by 2050.

We can do this

if we stop burning fuel.

We can use the energy from natural resources

like the sun, the wind and water,

instead of fossil fuels, like gasoline and coal.

These changes can be difficult

and cost a lot of money.

We want to help everyone

make these changes

and save humanity together.

We call this plan the European Green Deal.

The Paris Agreement

In 2015 the governments of almost all the countries in the world

met in Paris

to decide how to solve

the climate emergency.

They decided to cut the emission of gases

that make the Earth warmer.

We follow the rules of the Paris agreement

in everything we do.

Our projects help people prepare

for the effects of climate change,

so that they can adapt their lives.

We helped the city of Florence in Italy.

We helped Florence avoid flooding

by its big river, the Arno.

We hired a consultant

to advise the mayor’s office

on ways to build valleys and hills

in a park near the river.

The park absorbs the excess water from the river

like a sponge,

so there are no more floods

and people can walk in the park.

When the temperature increases,

glaciers melt

and sea level rises.

The seas and rivers can cover cities and land

and destroy houses and crops.

We protect forests,

so that trees stop the soil from washing into the river.

Climate change also makes some places too dry.

Many plants and animals die.

We gave money to a company in Belgium

that protects bees against pesticides and diseases.

Bees are important.

They carry pollen from flower to flower

to produce seeds and new plants.

We help companies and governments

cut the gases they produce.

Coal is used in many parts of Poland to make electricity

to run industry and power people’s homes.

When you burn coal,

you pollute the environment

and the air you breathe.

We lend millions of euros to Polish companies

that are building wind farms and solar plants

to make electricity from the sun and the wind.