The World Wide Fund for Nature has published proposals for 鈥榞reening鈥�
the European Investment Bank. The bank, an institution of the European Community,
makes some 拢12 billion of loans a year, almost the same amount as
the World Bank. But while the environmental effects of the World Bank鈥檚
loans receive intense scrutiny, there is no such 鈥榞reen guard鈥� on the EIB.
WWF suggests that the EIB should employ specialists to help in the environmental
impact assessments the EIB says it carries out on its projects. It should
also use accepted guidelines for conducting the assessments, and their conclusions
should be published. WWF offers to help the EIB review loan applications
for environmental suitability.
