ISTANBUL, November 6, 2012 - The US$7.2 billion Climate Investment Funds (CIF) wrapped up week-long meetings here today with over US$500 million in financing allocated by the Trust Fund Committees and Sub-Committees for building climate resilience and disaster preparedness, REDD+, and clean technologies in developing countries.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan addressed the multi-stakeholder CIF Partnership Forum this morning to kick off two days of knowledge exchange following the governing body meetings. “Financial resources need to be scaled up immediately and substantially to support mitigation and adaptation activities in developing countries. Time is ticking away… we should not let the battle against climate change stand still,” he urged in his video statement.
Turkey has already tapped CIF Clean Technology Fund (CTF) financing of US$250 million to help it reach its goal of doubling renewable energy capacity by 2020. Turkey’s CTF investment plan is expected to leverage an additional US$2.25 billion for investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy and smart grid upgrades to facilitate greater integration of renewable energy into its economy.
“Climate change is throwing obstacles onto our development path,” said Turkish Minister of Development Cevdet Yilmaz. “The CIF support has allowed us to put into motion a virtuous cycle of driving down the costs of renewable technologies, building our energy security and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, all of which will make us more competitive and boost our growth even in the face of climate change.” Turkey was given a green light for a second phase of funding of US$140 million to ramp up its clean energy and energy efficiency investments.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development co-hosted the Forum. “We have invested €10 billion, of which €1 billion in Turkey, in sustainable energy projects in our countries of operations. We do this because it is good for the planet, but it is also good for businesses and growth,” said EBRD Acting Vice President for Operational Policies, Hans Peter Lankes.
Under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), Papua New Guinea was allocated US$25 million of grant financing which will be used in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and others, to build disaster preparedness of communities on vulnerable islands, increase food security through investments in fishing communities, food processing and storage facilities, and climate-proof ports, roads and other critical infrastructure. Also under the PPCR, an additional US$88 million was allocated to the 16 pilot countries, and US$46 million set aside for allocation in a competitive manner to projects that will engage the private sector.
Under the Forest Investment Program (FIP), Burkina Faso was allocated US$30 million, Ghana US$50 million and Indonesia US$70 million for the sustainable management of forests through REDD+ activities, including agroforestry and sustainable agriculture. Under the Program for Scaling up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries (SREP), Maldives was allocated US$30 million to bolster renewable energy production by 26MW for greater Malé and 30 outlying islands.
Ahmed Saleem, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Energy of Maldives was confident, “We are using the CIF support to show the world that island populations can rely entirely on renewable energy sources, and to reach our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2020.”
In addition, under the SREP, US$50 million was also set aside for allocation through a competitive process to projects engaging the private sector.
The CIF have received some US$7.2 billion in contributions from 14 donors to date, and have programmed over US$6 billion for 48 developing countries, with over 200 projects already financed. Demand currently far outstrips supply; over 70 additional developing countries have expressed interest in accessing CIF financing. The governing bodies meetings welcomed announcements of additional donor support of US$25 million from Sweden and US$6 million from Switzerland for the Program for Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries (SREP).
The two-day Partnership Forum and associated meetings have brought together over 400 representatives of governments, civil society, indigenous peoples, the private sector, multilateral development banks and U.N. agencies to learn from each other about implementing their CIF programs, and to contribute to deepening global understanding of the linkages between climate change and development as they have been addressed within the CIF context.
CIF financing is channeled to countries through the public and private sector arms of the five multilateral development banks – the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank Group. A mix of grants, highly concessional and near-zero interest credits, and risk mitigation instruments from the CIF are expected to leverage over US$43 billion in co-financing.
Contacts:
CIF Administrative Unit
Istanbul/Washington DC: Jeffrey Brez, jbrez@worldbank.org +1-202-489 2028, +90 531 853 0533
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Istanbul/London: Marjola Xhunga, xhungam@ebrd.com; +442073386994
African Development Bank
Istanbul/Washington DC: Ian Hamilton, i.hamilton@afdb.org; +1-202-470-5993; +21653999424
Asian Development Bank
Manila: Harumi Kodama hkodama@adb.org
