Protection of the environment

Social and environmental challenges are deeply intertwined. While the likes of technological shifts or climate change affect everyone, any negative impacts tend to fall most heavily on the most vulnerable among us. Yet addressing these challenges with well-designed investments can generate "co-benefits" that strengthen both society and the planet for all.

This guiding principle—long embedded in the Bank’s social mandate—was explicitly strengthened by the Reykjavík Declaration of May 2023, in which Heads of State and Government gathered at the 4th Council of Europe Summit in the Icelandic capital encouraged the CEB “to focus on the social dimensions of climate change and environmental degradation, and to help member States achieve a fair and inclusive transition that leaves no one behind by funding projects in its key sectors of activity, in line with its strategic framework.”

It is also reflected in the CEB’s ongoing support for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate, both agreed in 2015, for which social progress is essential.

On the ground, the CEB translates this principle into concrete actions. From investing in low carbon, energy-efficient affordable housing and green public transport to providing support for disaster risk management, our operations help foster inclusive, sustainable, more resilient societies across Europe.

Other projects funded in this sector include cleaning up and protecting surface and underground water; solid and liquid waste treatment; energy efficiency; flood protection; and protection and development of biodiversity.

Projects in focus

More projects in focus

Reykjavík Declaration, "United around our values", 4th Council of Europe Summit, May 2023

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