09/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - EBRD invests €2.6 billion in sustainable energy projects in Eastern Europe in 2011. Investment by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in support of efforts to improve energy efficiency and to move towards a low carbon economy reached a record level last year. Under its Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI), the EBRD invested €2.6 billion in 111 ventures in 2011, accounting for almost 30% of its total investment last year. Since it began in 2006, the SEI is estimated to be cutting CO2 emissions by more than 46 million tonnes per year - equivalent to the annual emissions of Serbia. Between 2006 and 2011, the EBRD invested €8.8 billion through the SEI in 464 ventures in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and Turkey. (EH/transl.rt)