abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb

This page is not available in Italiano and is being displayed in English

Article

14 Giu 2020

Author:
Alfons Pérez, Nicola Scherer, openDemocracy (UK)

How big polluters are profiting from European public aid

4 June 2020

The EU recovery programme is at odds with its planned European Green Deal.

The European Central Bank and the European Investment Bank support big corporations through non-transparent processes, without taking into account social, environmental or climate criteria and without having binding criteria to stop corporate tax evasion and dividend distributions.

The spread of COVID-19 and its resulting health emergency have brought an unprecedented economic slowdown. Consequently, public institutions have activated plans, mechanisms and instruments that ostensibly aim to stop the shock, reactivate the economy and restore pre-pandemic normality. In this context, large corporations are playing a central role similar to that of the banking system during the 2008 financial crisis: at a time of high uncertainty, a few powerful actors benefit from public support, while the huge majority is put in second place...

At a time of pandemic, it is curious to see how the ECB has carried out operations to purchase bonds from one of the world’s most polluting corporations. In spite of the historical decline of oil prices, the ECB bought bonds from Shell, the Dutch-British oil and gas company which suffered a drop in its market value of 45% since the beginning of the year.

[refers to Repsol, Shell, Total Capital, E.ON, Airbus and BMW]

Privacy information

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies. You can set your privacy choices below. Changes will take effect immediately.

For more information on our use of web storage, please refer to our Data Usage and Cookies Policy

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

Analytics cookie

ON
OFF

When you access our website we use Google Analytics to collect information on your visit. Accepting this cookie will allow us to understand more details about your journey, and improve how we surface information. All analytics information is anonymous and we do not use it to identify you. Google provides a Google Analytics opt-out add on for all popular browsers.

Promotional cookies

ON
OFF

We share news and updates on business and human rights through third party platforms, including social media and search engines. These cookies help us to understand the performance of these promotions.

Your privacy choices for this site

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies to enhance your experience beyond necessary core functionality.