The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have signed an agreement releasing € 87 million of GCF funds to support the EBRD’s rapidly growing urban sustainability programme, EBRD Green Cities, as the first tranche of a €228 million facility.
The GCF is the largest fund in the world to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change, and is placing increasing attention on cities. This interest is shared by the EBRD, which launched EBRD Green Cities in 2016 to help cities in the EBRD regions identify and address their most pressing climate change and local environmental challenges. More than two dozen cities are now members of EBRD Green Cities, with more than €1 billion in EBRD and donor funding mobilised to support the programme.
Under the agreement, nine countries – Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Jordan, Moldova, Mongolia, North Macedonia, Serbia and Tunisia – are eligible to receive support. This support comes through Green City Action Plans – comprehensive urban sustainability plans that target cities’ most pressing challenges through investment and policy actions; grants and concessional funding for investments in sustainable infrastructure; technical support and capacity building; and roadmaps for cities to access green finance.
The EBRD is a multilateral bank that promotes the development of the private sector and entrepreneurial initiative in 38 economies across three continents. It combines investments with policy dialogue and, through activities like its Community Initiative, also reaches out to support local societies and knowledge about EBRD countries.
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