The ADB project is supporting the expansion of "green" bus services in the People's Republic of China, an initiative that will benefit low-income commuters, improve air quality and reduce GHG emissions.
The initiative is in line with the $175 billion commitment made at the June 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) by multilateral development banks to improve transport in developing countries between 2012 and 2022.
15 January 2013: According to a press release, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced that it has earmarked $275 million for financing public buses with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in major cities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The financing will support up to five top-tier financial leasing companies to support bus operators in shifting public bus fleets to cleaner fuels, including compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and electric and hybrid buses.
The ADB notes that the program should finance at least 5,000 clean buses by 2018. Low-income commuters will benefit most from the expansion of “green” bus services, an initiative that will also improve air quality and, as of 2019, reduce GHG emissions by 1.31 million tons per annum.
According to the press release, this initiative is the ADB’s first non-sovereign loan program to support sustainable transport in the PRC. It is in line with the $175 billion commitment made at the June 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) by multilateral development banks to improve transport in developing countries between 2012 and 2022. [ADB Press Release]