Strategic Moves - Regional Environmental Center for Central and ...

countries. In addition, it aims to identify possibilities for improving regional financial
cooperation between the EC and IFIs based on the comparative advantages
of each institution in the region 13 . The IFI-AG has four priority areas —
energy; transport; environment and human development; and employment and
social protection — and working groups have been set up for each of them.
The IFI-AG also addresses horizontal issues in relation to fiscal sustainability
and the right financing mix; the coherence of IFI support with national public expenditure
programmes; preventive measures against the crowding out of social expenditures;
public private partnerships; transparency in bidding procedures; and
overall public investment prioritisation.
The organisations making up the IFI-AG are the EC, the EIB, the EBRD,
the IBRD, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Nordic Investment
Bank (NIB), the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, the Council of Europe
Development Bank, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, Kreditanstalt
fur Wiederaufbau (Kf W) and the Regional Cooperation Council (EC,
DG Enlargement website).
Commercial banks willing to support environmental investment and incorporate
environmental considerations into financing practices are gathered under the
United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI). The
UNEP-FI is a partnership between UNEP and the private financial sector. It was
established with the objective of promoting the integration of environmental considerations
into all aspects of the financial sector’s operations and services. The initiative
has over 170 signatory institutions.
Regional activities in SEE are structured under the Central and Eastern European
Regional Task Force set up in 2004. The activities of the UNEP-FI strive to raise
awareness of sustainable finance in the region. The majority of activities are currently
directed towards the development of internal risk management procedures to accommodate
risks deriving from environmental projects. After recent changes in September
2009, CEE is now a sub-group under the European Task Force (ETF). This
will not have a significant effect on the way that the CEE Task Force operates, in the
sense that the group will continue to have its own strategy, activities and overall
independence. However, it provides the CEE group with an opportunity to be present
and influential in the wider European and global context, both via the ETF and the
EC. The REC plays an advisory role. Major financial members include Bank Austria
Creditanstalt; Emporiki Bank; the EBRD; HVB Group; Komercni Banka; and Raiffeisen
Zentralbank Austria AG (UNEP FI website).
The Danube–Black Sea Task Force (DABLAS) was established with the aim
of stimulating water-related investments in the Danube and Black Sea regions. It
provides a platform for cooperation between IFIs, donors and beneficiaries with the
objective of protecting the water and water-related ecosystems of the Danube and
the Black Sea. The task force comprises representatives of the Black Sea Commission,
the International Commission for the Protection of the River Danube
(ICPDR), IFIs, interested EU member states, other bilateral donors, and regional
and international organisations with relevant functions.
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