The EIB has issued its first Sustainability Awareness Bond, with an initial launch of €500m. The funds raised through the bonds will be used to finance social, green and sustainable projects around the globe.

“At the EIB, we have had a mission for a long time that commits 25 per cent of our financing to the climate and environment,” said Patricia Castellarnau, an EIB water economist who has worked closely on the new bonds. “The sustainability bonds give us an extra incentive to look for projects with a significant sustainability impact.”

At first, money raised from the new bonds will support drinking water, sanitation and flood protection projects. Future bond issues will target more social sectors. Water investments are a vital first step as access to water can aid several development goals at one time, such as ending hunger, raising healthcare standards and improving equality.

The EIB’s sustainability bonds will build on the previous Green Bonds opened 11 years ago to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and the EIB has now raised €23 billion, helping to realise a market estimated to be worth about $200 billion a year.

Examples of high-impact EIB water projects include a €37m loan to Burkina Faso to improve the water supply and build a new treatment plant, bringing 500,000 people better drinking water. Another project, in the Ruhr region of northwest Germany, protected water resources for more than two million residents.

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