Environmental pollution abatement project approved

Up to 25 industrial enterprises to benefit

The Council of Ministers has approved a $15 million loan agreement with the World Bank to provide technical assistance and credits that help manufacturers lower their carbon footprint.

The Environmental Pollution Abatement Project would provide sub-loans to 25 public and private entities of $100,000 each, at one percent interest, to reduce pollution in their operations. This would require them to bring their air emissions, effluent discharges and industrial waste generation to compliance with national environmental standards.

BDL would manage the loans through participating banks on a first-come, first-served basis and as long as the enterprise fulfills the eligibility criteria.

The project would also strengthen the monitoring and enforcement capabilities of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and the banking and industrial sectors through technical support and training. This would include sub-project processing, training, awareness-raising, reporting, and assistance in fiduciary matters, in coordination with BDL.

The World Bank’s lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is funding $15 million and the Italian Cooperation is providing $3 million.

To date, 13 enterprises have expressed an interest in the project and five (three from the food sector, one from the paper sector, and one from the furniture sector) would like to borrow from the project.