Progress Report (2013-2014) of the MDB Working Group on Sustainable Transport

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Date
Mar 2015
1. In June 2012, at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, our eight Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) delivered a joint statement Commitment to Sustainable Transport (hereafter the Rio+20 Commitment). The aim was to draw attention to the critical role that transport plays in sustainable development, and to make clear our commitment to increase support for more sustainable transport in developing countries.


2. Building on our collective history of support for transport, the Rio+20 Commitment outlined our expectation to provide more than $175 billion of loans and grants for transport in developing countries over the coming decade (2012-2022). Increasingly, this funding will support more sustainable transport projects transport that is accessible, affordable, efficient, financially sustainable, environmentally friendly, and safe.



3. In the second year of the Rio+20 Commitment (2013), our eight MDBs approved approximately $25 billion for transport projects. Combined with the $20 billion approved in the first year of our Commitment (2012), we are on target to meet our goal of $175 billion in support for more sustainable transport in developing countries over the ten-year commitment period.



4. This $25 billion in funding represented more than 200 approvals, including:



115 for roads; 39 for urban transport; 24 for rail; 13 for airports; 5 for inland waterway and maritime projects



5. In addition, more than 90 technical assistance projects were approved. These efforts seek to support policy development, research, and capacity building efforts. 6. The Rio+20 Commitment includes a commitment to report annually on our sustainable transport-related lending. Under a common reporting framework, our institutions have made progress in assessing the sustainability of our transport lending, in economic, social and environmental terms.



7. For 2013, four of our eight MDBs have completed the assessment of the sustainability of their entire transport lending, up from two in the year before. Other MDBs have conducted sustainability assessments for a number of projects, in preparation for wider application in subsequent years.



8. 2015 marks several important milestones in international processes, which are directly relevant to sustainable transport. These include completion of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Second Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety to mark the mid-year of the United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety. Our MDBs, in close coordination with our client countries and development partners, will work further in support of these processes.