By funnelling concessional finance into low-carbon projects in developing nations, development finance institutions could halt the rate of emissions growth across such countries altogether, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Concessional finance is typically provided under timescales and terms which are more generous than market loans and is achieved either through low interest rates or by grace periods, or a combination of both. Commissioned by the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), the report examined how such financial support can be used to lower the cost of clean energy in developing nations across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. According to BNEF, concessional finance from CTF and multilateral development banks worth $6.2billion in total, was instrumental in spurring the development of several key policy advancements across the five nations. Chile, for example, has introduced reverse auctions for clean power-delivery contracts and a carbon tax framework since Climate Investment Funds, the body which operates CTF, first invested in one of its projects.

Posted by

Edie