European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signs up for improved road safety
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is joining eight Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) in an appeal to improve road safety as road accidents claim almost 1.25 million lives a year and are considered to be a rapidly growing public health hazard.
A high level joint statement, signed by the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America, the EBRD, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the World Bank, confirms the MDBs commitment to implement the 2020 Road Safety Declaration.
It acknowledges the importance of road safety targets as part of the sustainable development goals of each multilateral institution and contributes to targets set by the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety.
The 2020 Declaration builds on the results of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, which took place in February 2020 in Stockholm and was attended by 1,700 high-level delegates from 140 countries. It helped raise global awareness of road safety and called for a new global push to reduce road traffic related deaths and injuries by 50 per cent by 2030.
Nandita Parshad, EBRD Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Group said: “Our Bank has invested almost €44 billion in various sustainable infrastructure projects and a significant part of these funds was used to build and upgrade roads in the region. As responsible investors we are taking road safety issues very seriously and are committed to contribute to sizeable improvements. We believe that joint action with our fellow MDBs is the right way forward and today’s statement is an important milestone in this process.”
The EBRD acknowledges the increasing role the MDBs will be playing in the development of a low-carbon sustainable infrastructure necessary for the post Covid-19 global economic recovery.
It will continue to actively integrate road safety improvements in its investment projects both through transactions related to the rehabilitation of roads and through raising the awareness of road safety in project design.
