The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) boosted its green economy financing to €913mn between January and May this year compared to €493mn in the same period last year.

Ahead of the Paris accord, the EBRD unveiled its Green Economy Transition (GET) approach, under which it aims to dedicate 40% of its annual investments to climate finance by 2020, compared with an average of around 25% in the previous five years.

The bank is applying its private sector investment model to reducing carbon emissions with energy efficiency and renewable energy projects while also promoting the transfer of green technology to its regions.

“We invested one third of all of our investments in the green economy in 2016,” says EBRD president Suma Chakrabarti.

“We are well on target to meet our 40% goal for 2020. We remain fully committed to this objective.”

Since its inception, the EBRD has been focused on sustainable and environmentally sound investment and is a leading investor in its regions in the renewable energy markets. Among its climate finance investments so far this year, the EBRD mobilised financing for the private sector energy firm Prosin Enerji, to support the development of the geothermal energy sector in Turkey.

In addition to its climate change mitigation investments, the EBRD was also active in its work to help economies adapt to the impact of climate change. In Kazakhstan, it announced a US$180mn programme to upgrade irrigation systems in the country to improve water supplies affected by changing weather conditions.

The bank is also extending two loans to UniCredit in Bosnia and Herzegovina to support energy efficiency investments in the residential sector. UniCredit will receive a €7mn and a €5mn loan, for onlending to producers, suppliers, vendors and service providers of green technologies.

The loans are provided under the EBRD Green Economy Financing Facility, which is being launched to support residential energy efficiency investments in the Western Balkans.

Commenting on the loan extensions Henry Russell, EBRD director, financial institutions, Western Balkans, says: “We are proud to extend these loans to UniCredit as our first partner under the programme. This will send a strong signal to the market where the demand for energy efficiency investments is huge, yet largely unfulfilled. Improvements in this area will benefit the environment as well as residents who will enjoy better living conditions at lower cost.”