The World Bank is issuing the first bond of its kind which, among other things, aims to finance sustainable projects in developing countries with a focus on road safety. Folksamgruppen, which includes KPA Pension, is the sole investor in the bond, which will, among other things, contribute to supporting projects to increase knowledge about road safety in order to prevent traffic injuries in developing countries. It will also contribute to projects in emergency medical care and rehabilitation services for care after traffic accidents.
Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death globally among children and young people. Every year, 1.3 million people die and 50 million are injured in preventable road accidents – a figure that the UN aims to halve by 2030. To reach that goal, the World Bank estimates that around $260 billion in funding is needed and that private means to get there. Therefore, the World Bank is now issuing its first bond of its kind with the aim, among other things, of increasing knowledge about road safety and thereby preventing road accidents in developing countries.
– People in developing countries today have to pay the highest price as a consequence of a lack of road safety, integrating road safety into all relevant activities of the World Bank will have a big positive impact. We are grateful that Folksamgruppen supports our activities and highlights road safety as a priority development area, says Jorge Familiar, Vice President and Treasurer at the World Bank.
– We at KPA Pension are happy that the World Bank makes this type of investment possible. That municipal and regional employees’ pension money can contribute to road safety-enhancing projects that save lives at the same time as providing a secure pension goes hand in hand with our vision that our customers should feel secure in a sustainable world, says Camilla Larsson, CEO of KPA Pension.
The insurance and pension industry in Sweden manages around SEK 6,400 billion and in Europe around SEK 96,000 billion – capital that, through smart investments in roads and safer vehicles for example, would have a big impact globally. Folksamgruppen now hopes that this initiative can inspire innovation, creativity and new ways of thinking about financing road safety.
Folksamgruppen’s total investment of approximately SEK 1 billion is distributed as follows:
KPA Tjänstepensionsförsäkring AB: SEK 384 million
KPA Tjänstepension AB: SEK 10 million
Folksam Liv: SEK 464 million
Folksam Sak: SEK 142 million
