The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, in a major move to accelerate climate finance, announced the global expansion of its digital platform, Green Checker, at the COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil.
The online tool is designed to simplify and streamline the process for banks and financial intermediaries to identify, evaluate, and secure funding for climate and environmental sustainability projects.
Global expansion at COP30:
Launched globally as part of the EU’s Global Gateway Investment Agenda, the Green Checker is now available to financial partners and project promoters in regions outside the European Union, including North Africa, the Middle East, the Western Balkans, and the Caucasus.
The EIB Group tailored the upgraded tool to these regional markets by simplifying data inputs and incorporating flexible parameters to reflect local conditions.
A transformative tool for banks:
The Green Checker acts as an integrated assessment system, enabling financial institutions to quickly verify whether investments meet the EIB’s green finance eligibility criteria and align with the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities. It generates reports confirming a project’s consistency with these standards and estimates projected climate benefits, such as energy savings and emissions reductions. This standardized framework is designed to reduce the complexity often associated with accessing international green capital.
Bridging the SME finance gap:
While primarily intended for commercial banks and leasing firms, the tool is free and publicly accessible, extending its utility to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), small public bodies, and individual clients.
This feature is crucial for helping smaller businesses independently assess their projects’ environmental value and access the sustainable financing opportunities often constrained by rigid eligibility requirements.
EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle called the Green Checker a “transformative tool” that simplifies climate project assessment, “in particular for SMEs,” accelerating climate investments globally.
