EU investment bank aims to stop funding fossil fuel projects

LONDON (AP) - The European Investment Bank is proposing ending loans for fossil fuel projects next year in line with the EU's efforts to curb climate change.

The EIB, owned by the EU's 28 members, published a draft policy document Friday that includes a proposal to "phase out support to energy projects reliant on fossil fuels."

The plan, which will be put to EIB governors in September, envisages ending loans to "oil and gas production, infrastructure primarily dedicated to natural gas, power generation or heat based on fossil fuels" by the end of 2020.

Former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern, now at the London School of Economics, said shifting the EIB's investments toward clean energy would likely make "excellent returns while fostering real progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution."