{"id":40799,"date":"2019-11-27T15:21:28","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T15:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=40799"},"modified":"2019-11-27T15:21:28","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T15:21:28","slug":"angela-merkel-criticises-eib-decision-ban-gas-lending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2019\/11\/27\/angela-merkel-criticises-eib-decision-ban-gas-lending\/","title":{"rendered":"Angela Merkel criticises EIB decision to ban gas lending"},"content":{"rendered":"

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she disapproves of the European Investment Bank\u2019s decision to ban funding for natural gas projects by the end of 2021, days after the German government agreed to the new guidelines. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Merkel criticised the European Investment Bank\u2019s (EIB) decision to ban funding for natural gas projects by the end of 2021. As Germany exits both nuclear and coal, natural gas is needed as a bridging technology in the energy transition, Merkel said in a parliamentary speech on the 2020 federal budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why I find it rather complicated that the European Investment Bank decided to no longer finance gas as a bridging technology. I don\u2019t think that this is right,\u201d Merkel told parliamentarians. The German government\u00a0supported the EIB\u2019s decision to end gas lending earlier this month. <\/a><\/p>\n

In a parallel speech in the European Parliament, European Commission president-elect Ursula von der Leyen praised the EIB’s decision, saying she was happy about the \u201cprogress\u201d\u00a0 made \u201cto strengthen its role as EU climate bank.\u201d<\/p>\n

European Investment Bank<\/strong> ends lending to fossil fuel projects<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Alexander Reitzenstein, climate and energy policy advisor at the environmental think-tank E3G, called Merkel\u2019s remarks \u201ca shocking and surprising statement\u201d given the German support a little more than a week earlier.<\/p>\n

Before supporting the EIB’s decision, the German government had initially opposed the bank’s plans to purge its loan books of fossil fuels, including natural gas, by 2020, according to reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

German economy minister Peter Altmaier previously insisted<\/a> that natural gas as a \u201cbridging technology\u201d would \u201cremain an important element of Germany\u2019s energy supply system for many years.\u201d Germany owns 16% of the EIB’s shares.<\/p>\n

While the chancellor criticised the bank’s decision in Berlin, president-elect of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen \u2013 a close Merkel-ally and a member of Merkel’s Conservative CDU party \u2013 lauded the \u201cprogress\u201d the bank made \u201cto strengthen its role as EU climate bank.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her\u00a0speech in the European Parliament<\/a> ahead of a vote to confirm the new European Commission, Von der Leyen said if there was one area where the world needed EU leadership, it was on protecting the climate. \u201cClimate change is about all of us. We have the duty to act and the power to lead,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Climate news straight to your inbox?<\/strong>\u00a0Sign up here<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Merkel named climate change as one of two main issues that are crucial for Germany\u2019s future economy, prosperity and jobs \u2013 the other being digitalisation \u2013 and highlighted Germany\u2019s role. \u201cIf a country like Germany represents one percent of the world\u2019s population and causes two percent of CO\u2082 emissions and possesses the best technologies, who if not we should show that it is possible to counter climate change?” she said.<\/p>\n

She also warned of the urban-rural division: \u201cIf we as politicians don\u2019t help those in the city with affordable living and those in rural areas who talk about what they gain from wind power expansion aside from a 220-metre-high turbine right next to them, then we will not succeed\u201d with the energy transition, she said.<\/p>\n

This is an excerpt of an article first published by Clean Energy Wire<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The German chancellor made the comments after incoming EU Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen praised the bank’s progress on climate action","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":36023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3863,6,82,598],"tags":[1409,2577,482],"coauthors":[4361],"class_list":["post-40799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","category-energy","category-eu","category-fossil-fuels","tag-angela-merkel","tag-european-investment-bank","tag-gas","type-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAngela Merkel criticises EIB decision to ban gas lending<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The German 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