By Alessandro Albano and Francesco Casarella
Investing.com - The Russian invasion of Ukraine underlined the need to quickly move away from fossil fuels and toward an economy based on clean energy. So said European Investment Bank Vice President Ricardo Mourinho Félix during a press conference during the Web Summit 2022 in Lisbon.
"The world of venture capital is changing a lot as a result of what is happening not only in the markets but internationally," Mourinho said, but as a European public bank, "we must continue to invest in strategic sectors for the future, such as innovation, and energy."
Since 2000, the EIB has invested more than €200 billion in innovation, and digital & human capital, including €20 billion in the past year alone, and, the VP added, "we expect to reach the number again this year" through continued investments in technology that "will allow us to move closer and closer to an economy based on renewable energy."
Looking at geography, European interests have reached all corners of the world, but although they have had a presence in the country since 1995, EIB investments in China "are limited because of the domestic environment" and are directed toward "climate goals."
In general, "we are focusing on climate change-related goals to close the market gap between different states, and at the moment, our efforts are mostly focused in countries close to us such as the Balkans, Ukraine, Latin America, and some parts of Africa," Mourinho stressed.
Responding to an exclusive Investing.com question on the challenge of financial education, the EIB executive emphasized the importance of risk education and the negative effects on markets and the real economy.
"We are in stochastic world where market shocks happen every day and are not pre-determined, so we have to be ready to know how to manage risks," Mourinho said. "Non-risk appetite has negative effects especially among investors and businesses, and this changes the mindset and approach towards markets."
"It is important for European citizens to be educated about financial risks and awareness of the actions that are taken in this area, as in the United States," Mourinho said in conclusion.
As a reminder, the press conference was held as part of an agreement between the EIB itself and Izicap, a French CRM and loyalty platform linked to credit cards that turns local merchants' payment terminals into a powerful marketing tool.
The agreement provides a 50 million loan for the duration of five to eight years, and is part of the European bank's Innovation and Digitalization Growth Finance program.