Development Banks Will Invest 3 Billion Euros to Fight Plastics in the Ocean

08 Jul 2025

A group of development banks plans to invest at least 3 billion euros by the end of 2030 to combat marine plastic pollution.

The UN estimates that, given current trends, the amount of plastic waste entering water could triple from 11 million tonnes in 2021 to 37 million tonnes per year by 2040.

The increase in microplastics seen in animals, plants and humans, especially polluting the oceans, soil and air, is alarming.

European Investment Bank Vice President Ambroise Fayolle said that the Clean Oceans Initiative (COI), including French, German, Spanish and Italian financial institutions and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, made an investment of 4 billion euros between 2018 and 2025.

Stefanie Lindenberg, project leader of the European Investment Bank, who launched the second phase of the initiative at the UN conference in Nice, France, said that it is planned to invest 3 billion euros by 2030, and the amount may increase with the participation of other partners.

The first phase projects focused on better management of solid waste, wastewater and rainwater were implemented in Sri Lanka, Togo and Benin. In the second phase of the project, the main sources of waste will be targeted, for example by helping to develop new forms of packaging and by ensuring that more waste is recycled.

Lindenberg said banks can help reduce the risk of developing new technologies, types of packaging and products, for example by providing cheaper financing, grants or investment in third-party funds.

The program aims to work closely with other development banks, particularly those operating in Asia and Latin America, which are major sources of ocean waste.

Lindenberg said discussions are ongoing with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as the Asian Development Bank, which participated in the second phase and is expected to provide strong local knowledge and connections.

Countries that failed to reach an agreement during the talks held in Busan, South Korea last December, will meet in August to reach an agreement to reduce plastic pollution.

Source: Climate News

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