Connections Transport & ICT Action nd Advoc c for Sust in ble 102764 Tr nsport Recent and Ongoing World Bank Efforts Pierre Guislain and Jose Luis Irigoyen1 During its 2014–15 fiscal year, the World Bank’s transport strategy focused on sustainability as part of a broader effort to eradicate poverty, raise shared prosperity, and tackle climate change. As articulated by the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Group $ 5.3billion on Sustainable Transport (see Connections Note 18), sustainability encompasses heightened access in rural and landlocked areas, low-carbon solutions in cities, and world trade and growth stimulated by investments in infrastructure, inter-modality, and The World Bank’s digital and low-carbon technologies. The World Bank’s investment in sustainable new commitments in fiscal year 20152 reflected this transport projects in 2014–15 convergence, and its operational focus has been backed by strong advocacy on transport issues in recent global conferences and high-level summits. Investments in Sustainable Transport • $5.3 billion invested in 34 countries—contributing to the Rio+20 pledge of $175 billion toward sustain- The World Bank’s operational focus was on support- able transport over 2012–22 by the eight leading ing sustainable solutions—universal, efficient, safe, multilateral development banks and environmental-friendly—to connect people and • $1.1 billion for transport mitigation, $200 million businesses to jobs, social services, and markets. In for adaptation fiscal year 2015 (FY15), new lending commitments • 50 loans and grants were evenly distributed across Africa (26%), South • 58 technical assistance activities Asia (25%), Europe and Central Asia (23%), and • Financing for 4,400 kilometers of road, 900 km of East Asia (19%), with smaller shares going to Latin railways, 15 urban transport systems, two airports, America and the Middle East and North Africa. and two ports • More than 70% of projects had a gender indica- Some indicators of the World Bank’s new investment tor and 100% of road projects had a road safety in sustainable transport during FY15 are as follows: component 1 Senior Director and Director, respectively, of the World Bank’s Transport and ICT Global Practice. Advocacy 2 All loans and grants with transport components that were made from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015, by the International The World Bank has taken a lead role in elevating Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and by the the profile of transport issues in both global and International Development Association (IDA). bilateral discussions: OctOber 2015 NOte 21 • In the UN high-level advisory group on sustainable • In India, helping improve the efficiency of bus transport and its technical working group; in sup- service in four demonstration cities while reducing porting the Addis Ababa Conference on Financing greenhouse gas emissions by a total of 230,000 for Development; and in the drafting of the high- tonnes through 2023 ($9.2 million GEF grant) level narrative on sustainable transport; • In Kazakhstan, supporting the ongoing further • Working on both the analytical and strategic extension of the Western China–Western Europe fronts in raising the profile of transport for the Corridor November 2015 Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety and the December 2015 UN Frame- Sustainability Dimensions of Lending work Convention on Climate Change (CoP 21) In addition to compliance with the Bank’s safeguard Most fundamentally, the World Bank has contributed policy, transport projects have been enhanced with to the development of the UN’s post-2015 Sustain- certain sustainability dimensions that are backed by able Development Goals (SDGs) and is advocating objective targets: the adoption of transport-related targets and indica- tors to track SDG progress. The work on transport- • Climate benefits. In FY15, 31 percent of the new related indicators has been part of the sector’s effort commitments in transport included climate to provide evidence-based support of its sustainabil- benefits equivalent to $1.3 billion. The tracking ity narrative. methodology has been harmonized among other multilateral development banks (MDBs). Indicators need data, and impact evaluation (IE) is • Greenhouse gas emissions. Unique among MDBs a key tool for obtaining high-quality feedback on is the World Bank’s requirement that all transport projects. To expand the use of IE, the World Bank projects account for greenhouse gas emissions at launched its “IE—Connect for Impact” program to project appraisal. The methodology was peer- engage clients and development financiers in an reviewed externally in June 2015 and was piloted evidence-based dialogue on transport and ICT (see on seven projects. Connections Note 17). • Road safety. All road projects are screened for road safety during the preparation and design phase. Dedicated safety components are included Sustainability at Work when feasible, and in FY15, all World Bank road projects included such a component. Bank transport projects have tackled some of the • Gender impact. Projects are screened to encour- more complex, integrated development challenges, age provision of the following elements for including development corridors and urban mobility, gender relevance: (1) gender analysis, (2) a project by going beyond standard infrastructure financing component, and (3) monitoring and evaluation of into spatial development, policy reforms, and global gender impact. In FY15, 55% of transport projects public goods. met all three criteria, and 79% met at least one. • In Ethiopia, supporting development corridors • Jobs and employment impact. In FY15, the main by enhancing the infrastructure backbone with development objective for 10% of transport intelligent transport systems and a safe systems projects was job creation, and job gains were an approach ($370 million IDA credit) incidental result for 53%. • In Vietnam, taking a bus rapid transit project in Ho Chi Minh City beyond the traditional model to incorporate transit-oriented development for the surrounding area ($124 million IDA credit) For further information on this topic: • In Colombia, helping the government strengthen Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable its policy framework for developing sustain- Transport: able, inclusive cities and inter-urban connectivity https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/ ($700 million IBRD credit) sustainabletransport/highleveladvisorygroup Connections is a weekly series of knowledge notes from the World Bank Group’s Transport & Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Global Practice. Covering projects, experiences, and front-line developments, the series is produced by Nancy Vandycke and Shokraneh Minovi. The notes are available at http://www.worldbank.org/transport/connections October 2015 Note 21