Lviv gets Gold award from EBRD for ecological and social best practices

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced winners of the 2020 Sustainability Awards, and the City of Lviv received the Gold Award for Environmental & Social Best Practice. According to the EBRD report, Lviv is notable for having developed eight municipal projects with the bank across every area of municipal services, including public transport, e-ticketing, solid waste, wastewater treatment and biogas production, district heating, and roads rehabilitation. Throughout this collaboration, Lviv has consistently placed environmental and social innovation at the top of its agenda: it piloted the EBRD’s Green Cities Programme in Ukraine, was one of the first municipalities in the country to undertake voluntary CO₂ reduction obligations under the EU Covenant of Mayors and has developed a number of environmental projects. The municipal projects with EBRD alone are expected to result (upon implementation) in CO₂ reductions of 360 thousand tons per annum, which is equivalent to planting 5.9 million trees or taking 76,000 cars off the road. Through piloting new initiatives and projects with the EBRD, the City of Lviv has consistently achieved a significant demonstration effect both in Ukraine and the region as a whole.

The Sustainability Awards recognise achievements in five specific categories: sustainable energy, climate resilience, environmental and social best practice, environmental and social innovation, and gender and inclusion. These Awards recognise clients that the Bank works with that are also committed to ensuring sustainability is at the heart of their operations. A total of 16 clients from 11 countries were selected for gold, silver and bronze awards.

Alistair Clark, EBRD Managing Director, Environment and Sustainability said: “These Awards recognise the great achievements of our clients in going beyond business as usual to address key environmental and social issues within their projects.” A special ceremony for the Sustainability Awards was scheduled to take place at the EBRD Annual Meeting and Business Forum in May 2020, which was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Clark added: “We look forward to celebrating in person with all our award winners when circumstances allow and raising a toast to their success”.