The EBRD and Minsk, the capital of Belarus, have launched a Green City Action Plan (GCAP), initiating the city’s involvement in the Bank’s Green Cities Framework. The GCAP is the Framework’s key tool, helping cities to articulate their sustainable development vision and strategic objectives, as well as actions and investments to address priority environmental issues and meet the GCAP’s objectives.
The GCAP was formally launched by the Head of Minsk City Council of Deputies, Vasiliy Panasiuk, joined by the Head of EBRD Belarus Office, Alex Pivovarsky. Support for the GCAP was generously provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
Minsk’s GCAP will focus on a range of sectors related to the city’s environmental concerns, including transport, energy, industry and land use, among others. The GCAP will initially identify the city’s environmental priorities using indicators developed by OECD and ICLEI, and discussion with local stakeholders. These priorities will then be translated into a politically-feasible list of priority investment projects and policies which the city can pursue.
The kick-off event was followed by a workshop with the team of experts who will help put the GCAP together over the coming year to detail the process, as well as discuss the areas where the city feels the most attention is needed.
The EBRD’s Green Cities Framework offers a comprehensive business model for green urban development, combining strategic planning with investments and associated technical assistance.
The Framework is one way that the Bank is scaling up its green finance as a part of its Green Economy Transition (GET) approach. The GET seeks to increase the Bank’s volume of green financing to 40 per cent of its ABI, or roughly €4 billion, by 2020.
Since 2006, the EBRD has invested over €22 billion in almost 1,500 projects that meaningfully address environmental and climate change challenges in the economies where the Bank invests.
