Countries invest in renewable energy

MANILA, Philippines –  In a significant trend to rebalance energy services toward clean technology, twenty developing countries are investing in large-scale renewables, particularly solar, wind and geothermal services, as a robust source of energy access for their citizens.  Just weeks before the global climate negotiating session in Cancun, this trend away from high-emissions sources and toward clean energy sounds a positive note for real climate-smart development.

With support from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), 14 middle income countries – Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam – plan to radically rebalance their national energy portfolios by investing in renewables on a large scale, the CTF governing body was told in its meetings which concluded in Washington last Friday. The CTF Committee welcomed the trend shown in the project pipeline laid out in the CTF operational report, which detailed a first round of renewables projects for a total of $2.4 billion to implement these plans, expected to finance around 4,255 megawatts with a potential to scale-up around 39,200 megawatts.

The $4.5-billion CTF, one of two primary funds under the $6.4-billion multilateral Climate Investment Funds (CIF) channeled through the multilateral development banks, is expected to support an overall portfolio of projects covering renewables, energy efficiency, and clean transport and to leverage up to $40 billion, $8.4 for every CTF dollar invested.

“This is a potent commitment to climate action,” stated Andrew Steer, World Bank Climate Change Envoy and co-chair of the $1.9-billion Strategic Climate Fund, the second primary CIF fund. “These countries are creating a badly needed global trend which could reshape national and global markets, policies and institutions. As we turn our eyes toward Cancun, it would serve us well to take careful account of the actions – and the new leadership – emerging in developing countries on climate-smart development.”

The Climate Investment Funds provides a unique financing instrument designed to support low-emissions and climate-resilient development through scaled-up financing channeled through the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank Group.

— From the World Bank East Asia and Pacific Newsletter