Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, is accelerating its investment in green solutions by joining EBRD Green Cities, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)’s flagship urban sustainability program, the EBRD said.
In a memorandum of understanding signed on October 6, Kharkiv committed to developing a tailor-made Green City Action Plan that will shape the response to its environmental needs and allow the city to build a better and more sustainable future for its residents.
The memorandum was signed by the Secretary of the Kharkiv City Council, Ihor Terekhov, and EBRD Deputy Head of Ukraine, Sustainable Infrastructure, Mark Magaletsky.
Kharkiv, located in the north east of the country, has a population of 1.5 million. It is the seventh Ukrainian city to join the €3 billion Green Cities program, following Lviv, Kyiv, Mariupol, Khmelnitskiy, Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro. Ukraine has more participating cities than any other economy where the EBRD invests. Kharkiv will become the 51st EBRD green city.
As part of the Green Cities program, the EBRD and other finance providers will be available to finance upgrades of solid waste management, water and wastewater, urban roads and lighting, urban transport, public building energy efficiency, renewable energy and power infrastructure energy efficiency, the EBRD said. As a first step, the Bank will now support the city in designing an action plan which identifies priorities and develops a roadmap for implementation.
As part of the Green Cities program, the EBRD will finance upgrades in solid waste management, water and wastewater, roads and lighting, transport, public-building energy efficiency, renewable energy, power infrastructure and energy efficiency. As a first step, the Bank will support the city in designing an action plan that identifies priorities and develops an implementation roadmap.
The EBRD Green Cities program was created to offer cities tangible support to improve the quality of life of their residents. All participating cities embark on a trigger project to improve their local environment. Then, with the EBRD’s help, they develop an action plan to identify further investment and policy changes that are best suited to their needs.
To date, the EBRD has invested more than €15 billion in 505 projects in Ukraine, with a focus on assisting its stabilisation, anchoring its reforms, strengthening energy efficiency and energy security, and supporting agricultural and industrial projects, as well as smaller businesses. Greening the economies where it invests is among the Bank’s top priorities.
Globally, cities account for three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions and represent an opportunity to tackle climate change. EBRD Green Cities, set up in 2016, helps each member city to tailor solutions to its environmental needs with a unique combination of measures designed to move towards a lower-carbon and more liveable future.
