Energy

UN Green Climate Fund set to empower poor countries

Published

11 years ago

October 29, 2013

Blue & Green Tomorrow

The UN’s Green Climate Fund is about to launch three renewable energy pilot projects in developing countries to help them adapt to climate change while getting financial returns.

The fund was created by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and aims to “promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change”.

Although not operational yet, it has €1 billion ready to finance three pilot project in different countries, which would see the development of renewable energy facilities.

According to a report by the World Future Council, the best way for the fund to support these projects would be to launch a feed-in tariff scheme, similar to the one launched in Germany, which has proven to be effective and convenient.

In this way, the owner of a clean energy development would have a guaranteed price for electricity over 20 years and would ensure a return on the capital invested.

This system could help developing countries to generate the power they need in a clean and sustainable way, by allowing them to adapt more rapidly to climate change – which according to the World Bank could have a devastating impact on these regions.

If funds are managed responsibly and effectively, the report predicts that 100 gigawatts of electricity could be produced by these projects by 2020. This would be the equivalent of the output of 100 large-scale coal-fired power plants and would cost €1.3 billion per year over 20 years.