The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) welcomes the first Progress Report (2012–2013) of the MDB Working Group on Sustainable Transport on their joint Commitment to Sustainable Transport made at the Rio+20 Conference in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro.

This is the first time that the eight MDBs are reporting collectively on their work in the transport sector. Among other things, key messages in report include the following:

• In terms of volume, the eight MDBs approved collectively more than $20 billion in financing in 2012 for transport;
• Beyond financing, the MDBs are working to leverage change in the transport sector through capacity building, knowledge sharing and policy dialogue; and
• The MDBs have completed the development of a common monitoring and reporting framework for transport projects, and this has been pilot-tested by several of the MDBs. Based on the adopted framework, each of the MDBs has initiated work to assess the sustainability of their transport operations.

The report gives details on the manner in which the 8 MDBs are adjusting their support for the transport sector to focus on sustainable transport – transport that is accessible, affordable, efficient, financially sustainable, environment friendly, and safe. The report provides a comprehensive list of transport projects funded by the 8 MDBs in 2012.

The SLoCaT partnership acts as an observer to the Technical Working Group established by the eight MDBs to develop the reporting mechanism on their Joint Commitment to Sustainable Transport. In its contributions SLoCaT representatives have encouraged the MDBs to move quickly forward with the rapid deployment of sustainability ratings of the transport portfolios of the MDBs, release detailed information on the composition of transport portfolios and to actively link the implementation of the MDB Joint Commitment to the post-2015 development framework that is currently being developed by the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals.

The joint MDB Voluntary Commitment to Sustainable Transport has been a game changer for the manner in which sustainable transport is now part of the wider discussion on sustainable development.   This was highlighted in the Message to Transport Day 2013 by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who commented: “The $175 billion voluntary commitment of the world’s eight largest development banks at Rio+20 has helped to make sustainable transport a significant feature of discussions on the post-2015 development agenda”.

The strategic significance of the joint MDB voluntary commitment, which is part of a wider set of voluntary commitments on sustainable transport developed by the SLoCaT Partnership, was also highlighted in the June 2013 report by the Stakeholder Forum and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), “Fulfilling the Rio+20 Promises: Reviewing Progress since the UN Conference on Sustainable Development”, which commented that the SLoCaT Network is a model for other action networks because of its strategic vision and leadership in obtaining the major commitments on sustainable transportation at Rio+20.

 The MDB Joint Commitment on Sustainable Transport will be a key component of the SLoCaT led TRANSPORT DELIVERS Campaign which is expected to help provide the means of implementation for the inclusion of sustainable transport in the post-2015 development agenda as called for by the SLoCaT Partnership in its Results Framework on Sustainable Transport.