Tbilisi Transport Company and EBRD
About
Under EBRD Green Cities, the Bank is working to accelerate the transition to low-carbon cities while promoting women and men’s equal opportunities in the infrastructure sector. A notable set of investments are the engagements with Tbilisi in Georgia. EBRD is supporting the implementation of Tbilisi’s Green City Action Plan (GCAP), which identified urgent action needed to address the city’s priority environmental challenges, one of which is air quality, through an engagement with the Tbilisi Transport Company (TTC). In 2016, the EBRD collaborated with TTC to finance the purchase of low-emissions buses, with a project extension granted in 2019. In 2020 EBRD signed a new project with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to invest in the modernisation of the Tbilisi metro system, consisting of a €75m sovereign loan, with €65m provided by the EBRD and €10m by GCF. The collaboration between EBRD and Tbilisi is an example of how a gender lens can be brought to green investments, and in particular how women’s employment and skills development and gender-responsive considerations can be integrated into green infrastructure investment approaches and processes.
Type of actor
Investor
Investment type
Private market, debt-based financing
Operates in
Georgia
Sectors
Infrastructure / transport
In 2020, with the social and economic fallout from the pandemic placing unprecedented pressure on cities, the Bank looked to support cities to maintain services and build back better through the EBRD Green Cities programme. With continuous lead on with green outcomes, a more comprehensive approach was taken with expanded focus on gender equality, smart technologies, and risks and vulnerabilities of citizens and assets. The focus on promoting gender equality followed the realisation that women represented an untapped source of talent for the urban infrastructure workforce. In 2016, TTC employed approximately 5,789 people, about half of whom are in jobs related to public bus transport. Only 22% of them were women. The gender gap was the highest in managerial, technical and operational divisions, such as drivers’ positions where the share of women is particularly low. Out of 1,441 staff employed as bus and metro train drivers in 2016, there was only one female bus driver. Among its 83 managers, only 13.2% were women. As well as tackling environmental challenges, EBRD sought to address these gaps through a set of specific initiatives as part of its investments.
Approach
With the first bus project, EBRD focused on supporting TTC to improve gender-inclusivity in its HR policies and standards. They introduced a tailored equal opportunities action plan to: (01) create better access to employment and training opportunities for female candidates and staff; (02) improve internal progression, (03) raise the number of women employed at the companies. The more recent projects demonstrate an even deeper commitment to gender equality; through an enhanced promotion of women’s employment, and also a commitment to bringing a gender lens to support the development of an inclusive transport strategy for the city. For example, the metro project will provide commuters with a comfortable and environmentally friendly means of transport, encouraging residents to shift from private to public transport, and thus reducing air pollution. It will also promote safety for all in the metro and will provide specific training and support to the company for women to become respectively bus drivers and metro drivers.
“The collaboration between EBRD and Tbilisi is an example of how a gender lens can be brought to green investments, and in particular how women’s employment and skills development can be integrated into green infrastructure investment approaches and processes”
Impact
Under the Green Cities Framework, EBRD is working to promote women and men’s equal opportunities in the infrastructure sector, as well as accelerating the transition to low-carbon cities. A notable set of investments under this Framework are the engagements with Tbilisi in Georgia. EBRD is supporting the implementation of Tbilisi’s Green City Action Plan (GCAP) which identified urgent action needed to address the city’s main environmental challenges, one of which is air quality, through an engagement with the Tbilisi Transport Company (TTC). In 2016 the EBRD collaborated with Tbilisi Bus Company to finance the purchase of low-emissions buses, with a project extension granted in 2019. In 2020 EBRD signed a new project with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to invest in the modernisation of the Tbilisi metro system, consisting of a €75m sovereign loan, with €65m provided by the EBRD and €10m by GCF. The collaboration between EBRD and Tbilisi is an example of how a gender lens can be brought to green investments, and in particular how women’s employment and skills development can be integrated into green infrastructure investment approaches and processes.
Key takeaways
Through contributing to the production and implementation of both Climate and Gender Action Plans, increasing equal opportunities in employment and improving infrastructure design, EBRD Green Cities programme and the engagement with TTC showcases how dual gender and climate outcomes can be prioritised and achieved in green infrastructure development. The projects were designed with robust baseline assessments allowing gender auditing, and a string of initiatives that enhanced training opportunities and contributed to a cultural shift at the TTC that has had ripple effects across the city of Tbilisi and the country of Georgia.
What’s next?
The activities of the metro project started in 2022 and are expected to end early 2024.