Germany split over EU bank plan to nix fossil fuel funding

BERLIN – Officials say the German government is split over whether to back a proposal for the European Investment Bank to stop funding fossil fuel projects.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the government in an op-ed Wednesday to support the proposal that would see the EIB phase out its fossil fuel investments by the end of 2020. A vote is scheduled for Thursday.

Finance Ministry spokeswoman Kristina Wogatzki told reporters in Berlin that, so far, disagreement among ministries means Germany wouldn’t be able to vote in favour of the plan.

But government spokesman Steffen Seibert said he was “a little more optimistic,” adding that there were “good reasons to assume that the German government will find a common position.”