EIB Global Report: The Impact (https://bit.ly/3n3Oq89) details the results and numbers behind development activities outside the European Union and discusses the many challenges facing the economy and societies worldwide, including climate change, the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic; EIB Global Report: The Story (https://bit.ly/3QOXoDU) illustrates the foundations of the European Investment Bank’s (www.EIB.org) new development arm and discusses ways to fill investment gaps in areas such as gender equality, innovation, vaccines and green energy.

The world is beset by crises that are reshaping societies, economies, healthcare systems, transport and workplaces. Many parts of our lives are changing. The greatest challenges, such as COVID-19, climate change, poverty and equality, will require larger investments and more partnerships as this decade progresses. No single institution can meet the world’s needs for innovation and cooperation.

There is a lot of work to be done. Africa needs to increase spending on climate action by several hundred billion a year. The continent is running far behind other parts of the world in COVID-19 vaccinations. In renewable energy in homes and clean drinking water, developing countries are struggling to make big leaps. Hundreds of millions of people in Asia, Latin America and Africa have no power in their homes and no easy access to good water. The EIB Group brought green electricity to 2.6 million households outside of the European Union in 2021 and improved water for 4 million. We helped provide nearly 800 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19 and other diseases. But we need to work together to do much more.