A German finance minister discussed blocking a European Investment Bank proposal to phase out the funding of fossil fuels, Unearthed can reveal.

The discussion was held shortly before the bank moved to delay a decision on phasing out investments in oil, gas and coal in order to support the EU’s climate goals, amidst speculation Germany had lobbied against the move.

According to documents obtained by Unearthed, Sarah Ryglewski, state secretary in Germany’s Ministry of Finance, said at a private committee meeting that discussions were needed “to clarify how a broad exclusion of the promotion of fossil fuels could be reconciled with the energy policy objectives of the EU”.

Gas was important to the EU’s future energy needs, she argued, adding that ensuring the policy met those needs would be “crucially important” for whether or not Germany would support it.

The documents, whose contents were confirmed by two sources present at the meeting, also show that Ryglewski said Italy, Spain, Poland and Eastern European member states are opposed to the proposals and claimed the EU would depend on gas for “at least” two decades.

Ryglewski made the comments in a private meeting of the Bundestag’s Finance Committee on September 25, in which she discussed the EIB’s proposed new energy lending policy.

The EIB lends around €13bn a year to the energy sector. Under the first draft of its new policy, it planned to cease lending to any fossil fuel projects starting at the end of 2020.

This would include natural gas, which produces greenhouse gases when burned.

In a second draft, the EIB weakened the policy slightly, proposing that it would continue to fund some gas heating projects under certain circumstances.

Board members at the bank were due to vote on the new policy earlier this month but, at their meeting, chose to postpone the decision until November 14, when they will vote on a third draft, which has not been published.

Germany and natural gas

Germany is Europe’s biggest consumer of natural gas and is a 16% shareholder in the EIB, giving it an outsized influence over decision-making, along with France, Italy and the UK.

It is represented at the EIB by finance minister Olaf Scholz, who heads up the department in which Ryglewski works.

Both are members of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which has run the country as the junior member of a grand coalition with Angela Merkel’s centre-right party, Christian Democratic Union, since 2013.

The former SPD leader and chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schröder has been criticised since leaving politics for his close relationship with the natural gas industry.

Michael Bloss, MEP for the German Greens, told Unearthed: “The German finance minister Scholz is a problem for climate protection in Europe. With his blockade for effective climate protection, he joins the anti-climate alliance among Poland, Czech Republic and other countries.

“It is hypocritical for the German government to acknowledge its commitment to the Paris Agreement but to trigger a new fossil-renaissance at EU level. The Federal Government’s climate standstill must come to an end.”