Ooni Koda
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Newsfeed
  4. /
  5. EBRD signs up 50th participant in €3 billion urban...

EBRD signs up 50th participant in €3 billion urban sustainability programme

November 3, 2021

Medias will scale up urban regeneration with a RON 38 million (€7.7 million) EBRD loan Cities account for 70 per cent of energy use, 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions   The EBRD’s fast-expanding €3 billion urban sustainability programme, EBRD Green Cities, has reached a new growth milestone, with Medias in Romania becoming the 50th city to sign up to improve the environment in which its citizens live and plan a more sustainable future. The EBRD will lend Medias RON 38 million (€ 7.7 million) to part-fund a bigger EU project to improve its infrastructure.   “We are delighted that Medias is becoming EBRD Green Cities’ 50th member,” said Nandita Parshad, Managing Director, EBRD Sustainable Infrastructure Group. “When it comes to addressing the climate emergency, cities must be front and centre given the need for clean air, decarbonised urban transportation and green and reliable energy access for all. This is why we established our flagship EBRD Green Cities Programme - to introduce bottom up planning for green priority investments for cities.”   Medias, located in Sibiu County in the central Romanian region of Transylvania, is an existing EBRD client. The city is looking to revitalise its public infrastructure as pre-requisite for business and economic development in the region. The city, with a population of approximately 56,400 inhabitants, suffers from legacy infrastructure issues across its transport network, public buildings and road systems. Medias plans to address these issues through a broad programme of investments, focused on accelerating the City’s sustainable development and transition to a low-carbon future. Cities, which account for 70 per cent of energy use and 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, represent a big opportunity to tackle climate change and environmental degradation. This is particularly true of cities in the EBRD regions, where obsolete urban infrastructure diminishes the quality of life of citizens, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and preventing communities from adapting to climate change.   EBRD Green Cities was launched in 2016 with just €250 million of funding, which was expected to last five years. The programme proved so popular that its funding was quickly increased. EBRD Green Cities has won support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and attracted significant levels of co-finance, expanding the number of cities that can be supported and further raising the level of ambition.   EBRD Green Cities offers tangible support to help cities address their environmental issues and improve the quality of life of their residents. All participating cities embark on a trigger project to improve their local environment then, with EBRD help, work on a Green City Action Plan (GCAP) to create a tailor-made list of further environmental investments and policy changes most suitable to address their environmental challenges.     In the case of Medias, the trigger project will be work on rehabilitating, modernising and improving energy efficiency in public buildings, as well as public transport investments supporting e-mobility. Both will bring significant greenhouse gas emissions savings. The EBRD loan will represent the city’s co-financing of a larger investment for a total value of RON 138.4 million (€28.1 million), approved under the relevant EU Regional Operational Programme in Romania. Medias is the 3rd green city in Romania, after Craiova and Iasi, while Timisoara and Constanta are expected to join the programme soon. To date, EBRD has signed 8.8 billion in over 460 projects in Romania.

The text of this article has been partially taken from the publication:
http://actmedia.eu/daily/ebrd-signs-up-50th-participant-in-3-billion-urban-sustainability-programme/94379
Read in full - click here
Romania’s Alba Iulia to host 10,000 people at 2.7-km community table in Guinness World Record attempt

The Romanian city of Alba Iulia will attempt to set a Guinness World Record on Saturday, September 13, with Masa Care Unește/The Table That Unites, a massive community gathering where more than 10,000 people will sit at a 2.7-kilometer-long table built entirely from recycled materials around the historic Alba Carolina Citadel. The event, organized by […]

Discount retailer Pepco opens 500th store in Romania as it marks 10 years in the market

Discount retailer Pepco celebrated a decade of operations in Romania on Thursday, September 11, with the opening of its 500th store nationwide. The company, which first entered the country in 2015 with stores in Bucharest, Ploiești, and Câmpina, now operates in more than 100 cities and employs nearly 4,000 people. Romania has become Pepco Group’s […]

Romanian Social Democrat MP under fire for EUR 140,000 SUV and countryside corner shop

Social Democrat (PSD) MP Mihai Weber, head of the parliamentary defense committee, came under fire after investigative platform Snoop unveiled his EUR 140,000 hybrid Mercedes AMG GLE 53 purchased this year through a small firm that operates no more than a countryside...

President Dan on reforming judiciary in Romania: it takes time and "critical mass" among those involved

Touching high public expectations for initiating reforms in the judiciary system, Romania's president Nicusor Dan explained in two consecutive interviews given to the public TVR and B1 broadcasters that "it takes time and a critical mass," but assured that he has not abandoned "at all" the idea. On the magistrates' retirement and pensions, he reiterated […]

Romania summons Russian ambassador in Bucharest on Polish drones incident

The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) summoned the Russian ambassador to Bucharest on September 11 to convey its position of firm condemnation of the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones, according to a ministry's press release. "The Romanian side stressed that, by its gravity, implications and scope, the incident represents an unprecedented escalation, […]

Spanish Ecoener announces its first wind farm in Romania

Spanish group Ecoener announced it boosts its expansion in the European Union with the upcoming construction of a 54.4 MW wind farm in Miroslovesti, in north-eastern Romania, after being awarded a Contract for Difference (CfD).  The company has been awarded a 15-year contract in the Romanian government’s renewable energy tender. It plans to begin construction […]