Progress Report (2014–2015) of the MDB Working Group on Sustainable Transport

More than 193 project approvals and over 192 technical assistance projects were approved in 2014 in support of the third year of the Rio+20 Commitment to Sustainable Transport. In 2012, eight Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) issued a Joint Statement on a Commitment to Sustainable Transport, or the widely referred Rio+20 Commitment, which seeks to provide more than $175 billion of loans and grants for transport in developing countries over the coming decade (2012-2022). In this third year of the Commitment, the MDB Working Group on Sustainable Transport continues to be on target to meet the goal.

Collectively, in 2014, about $20 billion of new funding for transport projects was added to the $20 billion approved in the first year of the Rio+20 Commitment (2012) and $25 billion in 2013. This $20 billion in funding comprised more than 193 approvals, including:

• 103 for roads
• 32 for urban transport
• 14 for rail
• 9 for airports
• 6 for inland waterway and maritime projects
• 29 for other transport projects

In addition, more than 192 technical assistance projects were approved to support policy development, research and capacity building.

A common reporting framework

In 2014, all MDBs completed an assessment of the sustainability of our entire annual transport lending, up from four MDBs in the year before. ADB used the Sustainability Appraisal Rating Framework (STAR) while six MDBs used a modified version of STAR. World Bank used its own internal methodology. For MDBs that applied STAR or a modified STAR, a common four-point scale was used although the results are not yet fully comparable. Further efforts will be made to improve the comparability of ratings between the MDBs in the future.

Under a common reporting framework, our institutions continue to make progress in assessing the sustainability of our transport lending in economic, social, and environmental terms.

Indicators of progress

The year 2015 marks several important milestones in the international dialogue on development which are directly relevant to sustainable transport. These include completion of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Second Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety to mark the mid-point of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety.

The newly approved SDGs are expected to raise the attention given to addressing the different dimensions of sustainable transport, which will be conducive to the role of MDB-financed sustainable transport projects and programs. The MDBs expect to take part in the process of deciding the indicators to be used for tracking progress on meeting the SDG targets and will make efforts to incorporate the indicators in the work forward.

Background

The June 2012 joint statement “Commitment to Sustainable Transport” was issued at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development by the following institutions:

• African Development Bank;
• Asian Development Bank;
• CAF-Development Bank of Latin America;
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development;
• European Investment Bank;
• Inter-American Development Bank;
• Islamic Development Bank; and
• World Bank.

The eight MDBs are committed to reporting annually on their progress toward this commitment.