The EIB launched the plan during the COP26 United Nations climate conference currently held in Glasgow.

EIB Vice President Ambroise Fayolle said that the Adaptation Plan supports the objectives of the European Union (EU) Adaptation Strategy.

“Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow, we would still need to face the consequences of our past emissions. I hope the EIB’s initiative will open the way to more private funding. Every euro spent on flood or wildfire protection or on climate resilient agriculture saves many euros spent on the devastating consequences of ever more frequent extreme weather events,” said European Commission Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans.

Timmermans stressed that adaptation finance is crucial to support the countries already experiencing the brunt of the climate crisis at present, adding that public funding has been the most important source of adaptation finance to date.

The EIB Adaptation Plan supports the objectives of the EU’s Adaptation Strategy in the countries inside and outside the EU.

The EIB has pledged to increase the share of adaptation support to 15 percent of the bank’s overall finance for climate action by 2025, representing an almost three-fold increase compared to adaptation finance over the past five years.

The EIB also said that it will screen all projects it finances for the risks of climate change and ensure they are adapted to future changes.

Outside the EU, the EIB said it will increase support for climate-smart digital technologies for agriculture, climate-resilient infrastructure, cities and entrepreneurship to accelerate innovation in adaptation.

It will also raise the share of financing it can provide for projects that are primarily motivated by adaptation to 75 percent of the project cost globally and to 100 percent in the least developed countries and small developing island states.

Addressing COP26 on Monday, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called on developed countries to fulfil their pledge to provide $100 billion annually to developing countries to tackle the repercussions of climate change.

The president also expressed his concern about the obstacles facing developing countries in accessing the funding necessary to confront climate change and its related implications.