OREANDA-NEWS. October 16, 2014. EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti will take part in discussions on investing for a low-carbon future and sustainable urban development at the Global Green Growth Forum in Copenhagen on 20-21 October.

Denmark is a founding shareholder of the Bank and an important source of foreign direct investment in the EBRD’s countries of operations. During his visit to the country, Sir Suma will also hold discussions with the Danish authorities and with corporates. The Bank already teams up for joint investments with Danish firms.

The EBRD was established in 1991, initially supporting the transition to democracy and market economies of former east bloc nations. It now invests to promote economic modernisation in 35 countries from Estonia to Turkey and Morocco to Mongolia.

The EBRD has always placed a priority on high environmental standards. Since the launch of its Sustainable Energy Initiative in 2006 it has invested over EUR15 billion in climate finance, promoting energy efficiency projects and the development of renewable energy sources.

Roughly one third of the EBRD’s annual investments, which totalled EUR 8.5 billion in 2013, are now devoted to sustainable energy financing. The Bank views energy sustainability as an integral part of the transition process, increasing competitiveness as well as contributing to the fight against climate change.

Innovative EBRD credit lines for energy efficiency and small-scale renewables have been delivered to tens of thousands of companies and households from Turkey to the Kyrgyz Republic.

The Bank’s skills in this are in demand globally and the EBRD is working on ways to share its expertise with those who need to outside of the regions where the Bank  is active.

Looking ahead to the summit, Sir Suma said, “The powerful combination of effective public sector policy and innovative private sector financing can make a huge contribution to the Green Growth agenda. Next week’s 3G Forum will help further strengthen those important public-private sector partnerships.”

The EBRD has built up a very strong network of partners, especially in the energy and climate sector, combining its commercial financing with donor support for grant co-financing, concessional funds, and technical cooperation in order to support the effective roll out of its projects.

At the 3G Forum, the EBRD President is expected to speak at three separate events:  -- “Transforming our Cities”, “The Politics of the Green Economy” and “Transforming Economic Growth Paths” where discussion will focus on last month’s New Climate Economy report that saw a positive link between climate finance and economic growth.

The EBRD believes strongly that sustainable energy investment goes hand-in-hand with investments to support economic growth and that there is no trade-off between the two.

The Bank also invests very actively in municipal projects that improve the quality of services delivered to local people and which raise environmental standards.

Its urban investments have raised standards of water and wastewater management, improved the efficiency of local transport services, made solid waste management much more effective via comprehensive modernisation programmes and provided major efficiency gains by modernizing district heating and distribution systems.