Thanks to this tranche, the volume of concessional financing provided by the GCF under this programme has doubled to €174 million. The funds will help cities in the relevant countries to tackle pressing challenges relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation through investment, policy support, capacity building and access to ‘green’ finance.
More than 60 cities are participating in the EBRD’s ‘Green Cities’ programme. The programme supports investment in areas such as urban transport, district energy systems, solid waste management, renewable energy, ‘smart’ urban solutions, water supply and sanitation, construction, electricity distribution networks, street lighting, enhancing climate resilience and nature-based solutions.
Concessional financing from the GCF helps cities implement larger-scale investment projects, overcoming constraints related to financial accessibility and bankability, whilst also helping to attract additional public and private capital. Funding is available to cities, public utilities and private companies in 15 countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.
Support is provided through policy development, infrastructure investment, technical assistance, capacity building, and measures aimed at improving access to ‘green’ finance.
The first tranche of funding from the GCF enabled the development of eight ‘Green City Action Plans’ (GCAPs) — tailored strategies to help cities identify, prioritise and address their most pressing environmental challenges. In addition, ten investment projects were implemented, including a project to restore the Byk River and provide flood protection in Chișinău (Moldova) – the first instance in which the EBRD officially applied a nature-based solution. The second tranche will enable the expansion of support for investments in the programme’s participating cities.
This decision comes ahead of the tenth anniversary of the partnership between the EBRD and the GCF, during which the parties have actively implemented joint projects. Over the past decade, the two organisations have collaborated across a range of programmes and sectors, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt to them. In doing so, the GCF’s concessional resources have been combined with EBRD financing, technical expertise and private sector engagement.
This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.
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