RIO DE JANEIRO, June 19, 2012 -- Multilateral development banks are a powerful force for delivering on the needed shift to green growth, the World Bank’s Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte said today at the Rio+20 Conference.
Endorsing the joint statement released today by the world’s six largest multilateral development banks (MDBs), Kyte said the World Bank Group was proud to be a partner for action with the other MDBs in making sustainable development a reality and acting on commitments emerging from Rio+20.
Together, the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and World Bank Group, have provided over US$93 billion a year in development finance on average over the last five years.
For the World Bank Group, that drive for results has seen the development institution increase its lending for sustainable development from $6.6 billion in 2002 to $24.6 billion in 2011. In the last year, it has committed $3 billion to new renewable energy projects and, on average, commits $1.5 billion a year in energy efficiency financing. The Bank is the largest external source of financing for water and sanitation projects, and along with the other MDBs, is supporting the $7.2 billion Climate Investment Funds for large-scale support to countries to tackle the threats posed by climate change.
“We are all about action in support of countries to achieve growth that is inclusive, and green,” Kyte said. “Financing the future to ensure a different growth path will require smart economic policies and smart leveraging of private capital. This will be the core business of the MDBs going forward.”
Recognizing the challenges that countries continue to face, the Bank Group is building platforms for action around healthy oceans through the Global Partnership for Oceans and on natural capital accounting through the Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) partnership.
