European Investment Bank & ABN Amro Commit €150 Million To Finance Green Shipping (Assignment 3 - Topic 3)

[Arslan Ijaz]

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/04/24/european-investment-bank-abn-amro-e150-million-finance-green-shipping/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29

[Wojciech Trawinski]

"“By allowing the EIB to take more risk, the Investment Plan for Europe enabled us to create a new instrument to support shipping companies in complying with the European sustainability standards". I interpret this as a push to meet requirements and not a push to get ahead of the game. Its interesting to compare the two totally different mentalities that we see between European leaders and American leaders. In Europe heavy investment in being put into creating green solutions for their industry, while in the United States we are focusing on building pipe lines to dig and transport fossil fuels. This really goes to show where priorities fall. 

[Arslan Ijaz]

Since transportation vehicles are operated on diesel fuel, they are a cause of the heavy air pollution in not only Europe but all over the world. it is actually a very good initiative by EIB and ABN amro to invest in the transportation fleet to convert it into green shipping. By doing so, they will be able to control the pollution problem up to a greater extent. EIB is working a lot towards clean sustainable and green future and it can be seen by its several million dollars commitments to different projects. 

Wojciech, you are right for your comparison. The priorities are different in both nations but I hope all the nations from the whole world start to take initiatives towards the green and sustainable future.

[Chun S]

It’s good to see the investment banks financially support other countries in building green energy. I believe a lot of countries would appreciate this, since they might have good source in steady and consistent wind source and sun, but short on budget to build.

[Martinez, Alfred S.]

It's great to see that there is financing going towards the greening of maritime shippers. The money will help shippers make environmentally friendly advancements to these European fleets.

Although the money is going towards sustainable projects, the undertone of this article is explicit in stating that there is a financing gap in this sector. Thereby creating an incentive for financial institutions to step in and take ADVANTAGE to profit from the situation. Although I do not know all the facts about the deal, I am not so sure that EIB and ABN Amro have entered this deal with pure and noble intentions. Regardless, at the end of the day these investments are going towards green and sustainable solutions which is still a plus and a win for the environment.

[Dobhal, Shivani]

This is a huge investment in terms of money by EIB in sustainable and green shipping. According to this article, there are European sustainability standards in place and this investment will help shipping companies in complying with these standards. These European countries are hence not only doing a great deal in investing towards sustainability, but also promoting other countries to adhere to their respective environmental regulations concerning the shipping industry. This sum of money could be seen as an incentive by shipping companies in amplifying their sustainability standards and sets a great example for other countries to follow suit.