For example, in Ontario, the Ministry of Education hires independent, third-party facility inspectors
to get detailed information. Each assessment team is comprised of two engineers — one with
expertise in building design and construction, and the other with expertise in building systems (e.g.
mechanical and electrical systems).
The inspectors review essential structures and systems for each school building. They also review
wear and tear to building interiors.
Based on the findings of each school inspection over a five-year period, the Ministry can
determine a school’s repair and renewal costs. The cost of a school’s repair and renewal needs are
then compared against the cost of rebuilding that same school from the ground up. The results of
this comparison — fixing a school or rebuilding it — give the school its FCI, which is measured as a
percentage. A school with a low FCI rating needs less repair and renewal work than a school with a
higher FCI rating.
Global Infrastructure Facility
The World Bank Group launched a New Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF) in 2014 to pave the way
for institutional investors to help fill infrastructural gaps in the developing world, where US$1 trillion
a year in extra investment is needed through 2020.
The heads of some of the world’s largest asset management and private equity firms, pension
and insurance funds, and commercial banks joined multilateral development institutions and donor
nations to work as partners in a new GIF that has the potential to unlock billions of dollars for
infrastructure in the developing world.
The World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said the presence of a broad range of institutional
investors at the signing to launch the GIF sent a powerful message, with the most recent data showing
that private infrastructure investment in emerging markets and developing economies dropped from
US$186 billion in 2012 to US$150 billion last year.
“We have several trillions of dollars in assets represented today looking for long-term, sustainable
and stable investments,” said Kim. “In leveraging those resources, our partnership offers great
promise for tackling the massive infrastructure deficit in developing economies and emerging
markets, which is one of the fundamental bottlenecks to reducing poverty and boosting shared
prosperity.
“The real challenge is not a matter of money but a lack of bankable projects – a sufficient supply
of commercially viable and sustainable infrastructure investments.”
The Carbon Partnership Facility
The Carbon Partnership Facility (CPF) is one of the World Bank’s major new carbon finance instruments
targeting the post-2012 period (the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period ends on December
31, 2012). The CPF's objective is to develop emission reductions and support their purchase, on a
larger scale through the provision of carbon finance to long-term investments. In order to scale up
carbon finance, the CPF will collaborate with Governments and market participants on investment
programmes and sector-based interventions that are consistent with low-carbon economic growth
and the sustainable development priorities of developing countries.
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