EBRD and World Green Building Council collaborate to drive sustainable buildings

Memorandum of Understanding to support sustainable property development

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Europe Regional Network of theWorld Green Building Council (WGBC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which they agree to work together in support of sustainable property development with a special emphasis on energy and resource efficiency as well as reduction of carbon emissions.

The WGBC is a global network of Green Building Councils (GBCs), with 25 GBCs, 6 Regional Partners and over 5,000 members in Europe, aiming to make buildings and communities sustainable through leadership and market transformation. The EBRD supports the development of the private sector in its more than 30 countries of operations spanning three continents.

The agreement between the two organisations provides a framework for cooperation to drive sustainable building practices in countries where both are active. These include, among others: promoting best industry standards and practices for energy and resource efficiency, climate resilience and building sustainability; promoting innovative zero-waste design, green urban planning and low carbon emissions; engaging in policy dialogue; and mobilisation of financial resources.

Claudia Pendred, EBRD Director, Property and Tourism, said at the signing in Zagreb today: “We are very pleased to join forces with the World Green Building Council as we share the same vision and goals for energy and resource efficiency. The EBRD is keen to provide funds for investments in this area and aims to increase our green financing to around 40 per cent of total annual investments by 2020.”

James Drinkwater, WorldGBC's Regional Director for Europe, said: “The EBRD has been a key driving force within the European investment community, driving up local standards on energy and environmental performance in buildings. We look forward to working together to promote green building certification, support policy dialogue and engage the wider investment community.”

In order to translate the Memorandum of Understanding into concrete steps the two parties agreed a work programme for 2016 where Croatia will be the first country they will work in, alongside the Croatia Green Building Council. This will include collaborating on financing components of Croatia's national building renovation strategy through the GBCs' BUILD UPON project), as part of this pan-European project.

The provision of modern real estate infrastructure is essential to support the EBRD region's economic expansion and diversification. Through its involvement in property and related markets, the EBRD has been redressing the fundamental undersupply of modern, high-quality, energy efficient commercial, logistics and residential real estate in its region.

WGBC contact: Kershaw, James
Tel: +00447496596496
Email: jkershaw@worldgbc.org

EBRD Contact: Reiserer, Axel

Tel: +44 207 338 6741

Email: axel.reiserer@ebrd.com