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EIB to Give China $661 Million Climate Change Loan (Update1)
2010-12-03 09:12:12.614 GMT
(Adds information on the loans from first paragraph)
By Bloomberg News
Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The European Investment Bank, the
European Union's lending arm, agreed to provide China with a 500
million euro ($661 million) loan to fund projects that mitigate
climate-change.
The loan will fund as many as 15 projects in sectors
including onshore wind power, biomass and solar power, according
to a statement distributed at a briefing in Beijing today. The
bank in 2007 also lent China 500 million euros for climate
change initiatives and has provide a total of 1.755 billion
euros of loans to the nation, Magdalena Alvarez Arza, Vice
President of the European Investment Bank, said at the briefing.
Alvarez and Chinese Vice Finance Minister Li Yong signed
the loan agreement as envoys from 190 nations are meeting in
Cancun, Mexico for the latest round of United Nations-led talks
aimed at curtailing global warming. Progress on reaching a
binding global accord have been partly hindered by China's
demand that rich countries give technological and financial
assistance to developing nations to combat climate change.
The new loan from the European Investment Bank will fund
projects that reduce China's carbon emissions by 3 million tons
annually, Alvarez said at today's briefing. China's Ministry of
Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission will
select the projects that receive funds from the loan, she said.
Greenhouse Gases
China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
The world's fastest growing major economy also surpassed the
U.S. last year to become the biggest energy user globally,
according to the International Energy Agency.
The European Union and China in May inaugurated a clean
energy center at Tsinghua University to jointly work on energy
efficiency projects and tackle climate change issues, according
to Bloomberg New Energy Finance data. The EU agreed to invest
about 12 million euros in the center.
The European Commission said in June 2009 that it will
spend up to 50 million euros to finance the design and
construction of a power plant in China to capture, transport and
store carbon dioxide emissions.
Other loans that the European Investment Bank has provided
to China include 500 million euros for terminal 3 at the Beijing
International Airport and also 118 million euros for
reconstruction after the earthquake that struck China's Sichuan
province in 2008.
For Related News and Information:
Most-read alternative energy stories: MNI ALTNRG <GO>
For top news on renewable energy TOP ENV <GO>
New Energy Finance news and analysis: BNEF <GO>
--Editors: Baldave Singh, John Liu
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Feifei Shen in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7527 or
Fshen11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net.
