AECOM to deliver technical support for the development of Green Financing Roadmaps that tackle city-wide environmental issues in Europe and central Asia
LONDON (Feb. 09, 2021) — AECOM, the world’s premier infrastructure consulting firm, today announced it has secured a contract with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to develop Green Financing Roadmaps for up to eight cities across Europe and central Asia. The Roadmaps will help cities access alternative finance for projects and programmes that address climate change challenges and help them meet climate-related targets.
Michael Henderson, Regional Director – Sustainable and Resilient Cities, AECOM, said: “With many cities in Europe and Central Asia facing some of the greatest environmental challenges, achieving their climate change targets cannot be funded through public finance alone. Green Financing Roadmaps will allow them to look at sustainable infrastructure solutions holistically across the entire city and create the right environment to attract private sector capital. AECOM brings its global, technical expertise to the cities, helping them identify, prioritise and connect environmental issues with sustainable investments and policy measures to help them build a more sustainable future.”
Under the three-year framework, AECOM will lead a consortium of specialist and local suppliers to deliver technical support, working with cities to identify eligible green investments and improvements to help mobilise green financing, including green bonds. Additionally, AECOM will partner with each city to take ownership of their Roadmap and help them build the necessary internal capacity to attract alternative green and private financing. This will include the development of appropriate performance standards and benchmarking for priority projects, supporting monitoring and verification, guidance on meeting international reporting standards and establishing transparent criteria for public procurement. The aim is to build confidence in internal processes and reporting to help the cities generate bankable projects and secure investment.
The new framework is part of the EBRD Green Cities programme, which will deliver over €2 billion in climate finance to support cities in their green development. It follows AECOM’s appointment to another EBRD framework to develop Green City Action Plans (GCAPs) for the next tranche of cities joining the programme.
The step before Green Financing Roadmaps, GCAPs assess and prioritise environmental challenges and develop action plans to tackle them through policy interventions and sustainable infrastructure investments. The GCAPs take a systemic, city-wide approach to understand environmental issues to help identify projects that will deliver multi-sector benefits to improve the environment and social and economic vitality.
Under the EBRD’s previous GCAP framework, AECOM developed GCAPs for five cities.
AECOM will work with its partner, green financing specialist Eco, to deliver the Green Financing Roadmaps framework, as well as a range of local in-country specialist sub-consultants.
