prijava
BRČKO, October 26 (FENA) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) urban sustainability program, EBRD Green Cities, will grow again with Brčko District pledging to join the program. The self-governing entity in the north of the country faces serious environmental challenges, which the program aims to address.
Esed Kadrić, the mayor of Brčko District, and Manuela Naessl, EBRD Head of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed a memorandum of understanding today facilitating cooperation between the district and the Bank in the field of sustainable urban infrastructure investment.
The EBRD Green Cities presently includes over 50 cities in the regions where the Bank invests. The program is particularly strong in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Zenica already signed up.
Ms Naessl said: “The environmental challenges in Bosnia and Herzegovina are significant and include high air pollution, low energy and water efficiency, and a lack of public transport options. We are pleased to be working with several municipalities and cantons to address some of these issues. EBRD Green Cities offers tangible support to cities to improve their environmental performance and, at the same time, improve the quality of people’s lives. We are very happy that Brčko will soon benefit from this program too.”
As a first step, the EBRD will work with Brčko to identify sustainable investments in areas such as solid waste management, water and wastewater, urban transport, district heating and the energy efficiency of public buildings. Identifying priority investments and developing an action plan for Brčko will be supported with donor funds from Austria and Italy.
A trigger investment is the planned construction of a mains water transmission pipeline. It will regulate water pressure across Brčko’s urban area and bring better water services to its inhabitants while reducing water losses and saving energy. The city hopes to complete the financing for this project in 2021. EBRD Green Cities was launched in 2016 to address the enormous environmental challenges presented by urban conurbations.
Cities, which account for 70 percent of energy use and 80 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally, are a big opportunity to tackle climate change and environmental degradation. This is particularly true of cities in the EBRD regions, where obsolete urban infrastructure is diminishing the quality of life of citizens, increasing GHG emissions and preventing communities from adapting to climate change.
The EBRD Green Cities has won support from multilateral donors and attracted significant levels of co-finance, expanding the number of cities that can be supported and further raising its level of ambition. Because of its success and ensuing high demand, the program was recently expanded to a financing volume of €3 billion, stated the EBRD.
(FENA) S. R.
