The EPA and Brazil’s Ministy for the Environment unveiled a new online tool that highlights key links between policies, funding and on-the-ground projects that can help drive urban sustainability investment around the world. The benefits of sustainable urban infrastructure include healthier air and water, job creation and economic development. Tthe web platform was developed under the US Brazil Joint Initiative on Urban Sustainability (JIUS).

"This interactive web platform is designed to serve as an entry point for everyone from local officials to investors who are looking for the best strategies for investment in urban sustainability," said EPA Administrator Jackson. "Right now the platform represents an array of different approaches, not a comprehensive or one-size-fits-all plan. We believe that this collection of policy instruments, financial mechanisms, and project examples can serve as a model for sustainable development in cities around the world."

The platform features expertise from a range of public and private sector leaders, including: federal, state, and local government officials, corporate, financial, academic, and community leaders and innovators from Rio de Janeiro and Philadelphia. Government leaders of the JIUS are working with C40 Cities, a forum for the world’s largest cities to collaborate on addressing climate change, and other partners, to expand this platform to include urban sustainability efforts happening in cities around the world.

The creation of the US-Brazil Joint Initiative on Urban Sustainability was announced in March 2011 by President Obama and Brazilian President Rousseff , who desribed it as an innovative public-private partnership for catalyzing investment in sustainable urban infrastructure and expanding markets for clean technology, products and services. The JIUS serves as a platform for identifying and overcoming key barriers to investment and deployment of clean infrastructure.