IMPLEMENTING BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN UNIVERSITIES

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES. Determining the direction of energy saving development is a significant aspect and is present in the policy of rational use of energy resources of leading countries, in most cases it affects the direct consumer and producer of energy, as well as administrative measures. Implementation of best practices of energy efficiency of all types of activities is a tool to improve energy autonomy of universities in Ukraine.METHODS. The study used: the predictive method – to determine the progress of implementation of EU Directive 2012/27/EC in Ukraine; method of comparative analysis – to determine the optimal mechanisms to promote energy efficiency in different countries and the possibility of implementing this experience to create a system of energy efficiency in Ukrainian universities.FINDINGS. Using and expanding the experience of participation in the project to provide energy efficient and comfortable conditions of study in Ukrainian universities together with the European Investment Bank and the Nordic Environment Corporation will allow to upgrade 200 teaching, research and support facilities in 21 universities to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce operating costs of public higher education institutions; quality of teaching, learning, teaching, research and residential buildings. Implementation of such experience will improve the energy efficiency of universities, optimize mechanisms for state regulation, control and stimulation of energy efficiency; solve problems and expand the power of executive authorities and local governments, energy autonomy of universities.CONCLUSION. The analysis of the successes and difficulties of higher professional education for people with disabilities shows that there is an objective need to consolidate the efforts of the higher education community with regional public organizations, executive authorities, regional and city institutions of health, education and social protection to support young people with disabilities.

Environmental, Social, and Governance Assets

This chapter presents a historical overview of the emergence and evolution of ESG assets and, in particular, analyses the main market trends that have been observed in recent years in relation to these assets. The authors intend to present a summary of the main moments and phases that these assets have gone through, from the moment of their appearance in 2007, the year in which the European Investment Bank carried out its Climate Awareness Bond as a test issuance. The movement associated with the issue of these assets is initiated by supranational entities with little homogeneity and no fixed conventions. To overcome this impasse, the green bond principles emerged and a process of defining the characteristics of these assets began, with a particular focus on transparency and the governance process. From this stage onwards, the market showed interest in these financial products and hence the emergence of a harmonising movement regarding green bond standards in which Europe seems to have taken a leading role.

European international financial organizations are investors in the real sector of Ukraine’s economy

The article highlights the historical aspects of Ukraine's cooperation with two international financial institutions, which provide Ukraine with significant credit resources: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank. The structure of these institutions, the purpose of their work, means and methods of achieving the goals defined in the statutory documents were considered. The cooperation of Ukraine with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank on the implementation of investment projects in the public and private sectors was studied, the peculiarities of the project implementation were analysed and the factors that impact low disbursement were investigated. Attention is drawn to the importance of using investments from international financial organizations in full and the importance of further close cooperation with institutions that provide credit resources to Ukraine in periods when the state does not actively cooperate with the IMF. Generalised suggestions for improving Ukraine's cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank were prepared, separately for each bank, the steps that need to be taken to increase the disbursement of loans for investment projects implemented in Ukraine with international financial organizations were listed.

Africa-European investment initiative may misfire

Headline AFRICA: European investment initiative may misfire

Restrictive or expansive? European Investment Bank's challenge to equipoise climate finance with post-pandemic boost

PurposeUnique among European Union (EU) economic governance entities and multilateral banks, the European Investment Bank (EIB) possesses a dual nature, as an EU body and a bank. The EIB has been ever evolving to adapt to policy and market developments and to reflect the geo-economic landscape. In 2019, in association with the EU's Green Deal, the bank announced its metamorphosis into a “Climate Bank,” ending its fossil fuel lending after 2021. Additionaly, upon the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its attendant health and economy crisis, EU decision-makers have solicited the bank to support both urgent needs for tackling and countering the spread of the disease and the post-pandemic economic recovery. Nevertheless, devastated economic actors in need of assistance fall within many sectors, including some less green ones.Design/methodology/approachThis article is grounded on agency theory for developing a generic stakeholder framework, which is then subsequently applied in investigating the EIB, in interaction with its main stakeholders.FindingsThis article investigates the EIB stakeholders in pursuing these two seemingly contradictory objectives of exclusively restricting its activity to green funding and expanding its action for achieving a broad impact in the real economy. By exploring this tension, the article argues that by prioritizing the post-COVID restart, the EIB risks to deviate from its strict green commitment.Practical implicationsThe analysis of the EIB's divergent stakeholder stances demonstrates some ambivalence in future EIB activity in an effort to equipoise climate finance with a post-pandemic boost. The same ambivalence might equally occur with other major economic governance actors. The stakeholder framework developed and applied in the case of the EIB can be useful for studying also the stakeholder dynamics of other organizations.Social implicationsThe analysis demonstrates a tension between selective climate-related funding for “building back better” and the need for a wide broaching of countercyclical stimulus, with implications for economic and social actors alike.Originality/valueThe approach is novel, as it develops a new analytical framework for understanding stakeholder dynamics and tests it empirically on the EIB. This constitutes the first study of EIB stakeholder management.

Public Aid and Entrepreneurship During the Covid-19 Pandemic in the European Union Countries

The aim of the article: The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic made it necessary to involve the state in the process of rescuing numerous business entities from bankruptcy. In the European Union, the aid measure for entrepreneurs takes a form of public aid, which, as it turns out, is the necessary and the only tool to protect SME sector enterprises against bankruptcy. Social isolation caused by the virus that spread on a large scale effectively inhibited the development of entrepreneurship, which is inherently related to the economic development of countries. The aim of the article is therefore to indicate that supporting entrepreneurs within the framework of public aid may help to reverse the unfavorable economic trends related to the disturbed development of entrepreneurship. Methodology: The article analyzes and assesses the government solutions introduced to the Polish economic reality, the purpose of which is to counteract the effects of Covid-19. The paper presents the current public aid tools available to entrepreneurs along with their financial dimension. Results of the research: State aid granted by the state to entrepreneurs during the crisis caused by Covid-19 is indispensable for their further functioning. The paper presents aid instruments related to COVID-19 that are available to entrepreneurs. The analysis shows that public aid addressed to entrepreneurs injured as a result of the lockdown comes from many sources and is almost tailored to the individual entrepreneur. The entities providing aid on the basis of state aid include: banks, local government units, executive bodies of local government units, Social Insurance Fund, State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled People, financial intermediaries, bodies constituting local government units, the European Investment Bank, Polish Development Fund, district and voivodeship labor offices and BGK (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego). Having prepared a package of systemic solutions, the government introduced them systematically, depending on the situation of individual sectors of the economy. Special solutions in the form of financial shields were addressed directly to the tourism sector (e.g. loans for tour operators) or the catering sector, which in the face of the pandemic were most exposed to a decrease in revenues. The impact of introduced solutions on the country’s economy can be assessed only in the next few years, but the multitude and diversified nature of the anti-crisis solutions introduced in Poland will certainly contribute to slowing down the negative consequences of Covid-19 in the economy.

International Financial Institutions Ask to Contribute to Climate Protection

The aim of this article is to show in which way international financial institutions (IFIs) can contribute to climate protection projects. The principles of IFIs’ project cycles are explained in the context of the new blending tool. The cooperation with other donors stands in the centre of EU project funding and the notion of leveraging allows to quantify the cooperative effect among different donors. The bulk of this article describes the most relevant IFIs and national development banks with an international focus: Green Climate Fund (GCF), European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), French Development Agency (AFD), German Development Bank (KfW), World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). For all these IFIs, descriptions are provided and their main fields of actions identified. The procedure of application (the “project cycle”) is illustrated and an overview of their strategies is given. Thus, this article seeks to provide practical guidance on how to cooperate with IFIs and to direct funds into substantially valid and responsible climate projects.

Biodiversity risks and safeguards of China’s hydropower investments in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Countries

The imperative of a global transition to renewables to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 calls for an examination of the associated biodiversity risks. Hydropower is the biggest source of renewable energy globally, and its remaining untapped potential is concentrated in low and lower-middle income countries which are also among the world’s most biodiverse. China has emerged as a major overseas financier of hydropower dams under its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We assess the biodiversity risk posed by proposed or under-construction hydropower dams being funded by China in BRI countries and compare it with that of dams being funded by Multi-lateral Development Banks (MDBs) – the other key overseas financiers of hydropower. We find that 48 hydropower dams are being financed by China in 18 BRI countries, likely impacting 14 free-flowing rivers and the ranges of 11 critically endangered freshwater fish species, and 130 km2 of critical terrestrial habitat(within a 1-km buffer distance). When compared to dams funded by MDBs, Chinese-funded dams are not located in riskier areas for biodiversity, but the total risk is higher due to their preponderance. We find that Chinese regulators and hydropower companies do not specify any enforceable biodiversity impact mitigation requirements. And while MDBs do specify binding safeguards, impacts on river connectivity do not form a part of the mitigation requirements, except in the case of the European Investment Bank (EIB). China is uniquely positioned to adopt a leadership role in specifying safeguards that will help BRI countries adopt an optimum renewable energy mix that minimizes biodiversity risks.