The Norwegian Government has committed NOK 80 million (approximately € 8.7 million) towards a new fund for investments in projects to combat climate change and promote clean energy in developing countries. The Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF) is a public-private partnership initiated by the European Commission. Norway and Germany are the first two public donors to the fund.
According to information posted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, GEEREF will focus on investments in smaller projects, up to EUR 10 million, that are largely ignored by commercial investors and international financial institutions.
GEEREF draws on the Patient Capital Initiative (PCI) launched in 2004 in the context of the Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition (JREC). It builds on a 2004 feasibility study that assessed various options for designing a new targeted public-private financing partnership. The design was guided by the debates at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) and the first international high-level conference of the JREC, held in June 2003 in Brussels
“We must do everything we can to help developing countries make a technological leap forward and increase their use of renewable energy sources such as solar energy and hydropower. Poor countries can reap huge economic and environmental benefits through energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy,” said Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim.
“This fund can be a prototype for investment mechanisms that will attract private investors who are looking for a return on their investments, and that will also give an economic return on the public funds that are invested,” added Mr Solheim.
The European Commission has already invested EUR 23 million in GEEREF. Further contributions totalling EUR 100 million have been pledged for the next four years. GEEREF is part of an umbrella fund structure, the European Initiative on Clean, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Related to Development.
Related Links:REN21 GEEREFEC on GEEREFMinistry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
