The Growing Urgency of Funding Off-Grid Solar: Exploring the Multi-Billion Dollar Investment Opportunity in Achieving Climate and Energy Access Goals - NEXTBILLION

In the last decade, the off-grid solar industry has become a key solution to quickly deliver clean energy access to low-income and hard-to-reach communities. It currently serves 420 million people and has helped mitigate over 150 million metric tonnes of CO2e (according to GOGLA estimates), while enabling remote and vulnerable populations to adapt and become more resilient to climate change.

 

 

However, financial flows into the sector have stalled over the last five years, and it is not receiving anywhere near the funding it would need to fulfill its potential and make a life-changing contribution to universal energy access and climate goals. International climate funding could be a part of the solution, but there’s work to be done to leverage it for the industry.

 

The article below will explore the momentum and potential of off-grid solar, discussing why much faster progress – and much greater funding – is needed for the sector to address the increasingly urgent challenges of climate change.

 

Climate urgency can push energy access forward

 

We need to act quickly to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. That much was confirmed at last year’s COP26 climate summit. It is also clear that climate change is already happening, and its consequences will disproportionately affect the people who have least contributed to it – poor people in low-income countries. These people, in many cases, have no electricity or a weak grid connection. Their livelihoods often depend on their ability to navigate increasingly unpredictable weather conditions. They are generally vulnerable to natural disasters and have limited capacity to absorb setbacks.

 

A “fair and just transition” to an environmentally sustainable economy was a key theme at COP26, acknowledging that energy access and climate goals can work hand in hand, and that the world’s most vulnerable cannot be left behind in the green energy transition. We absolutely must reduce emissions, and urgently. But it is also important to avoid future emissions, and for growth in low-income economies to be green, using climate-smart technologies and approaches.

 

The climate reality also calls for boosting resilience and adaptive capacity, specifically for low-income people, to avoid quickly losing the hard-won development impacts of recent years. An estimated 97 million people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis and lockdown measures. With natural disasters foreseen to become more frequent and severe due to climate change, there is a real risk of future backslides many times bigger than the one caused by the pandemic.

 

Off-grid solar has a pivotal role to play in this space. It is at the same time a climate-smart solution that helps create jobs and economic opportunity, and a critical component in making low-income and rural communities more resilient to shocks and better-adapted to changing climate circumstances.  As UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said in his opening remarks at the recent Global Off-Grid Solar Finance Summit, “Solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity in history. The challenge is to ensure that some of the world’s most marginalised communities gain access to this clean, renewable and affordable source of energy. It will drive down carbon emissions and bring dignity and opportunity for millions of people.”

 

Momentum building in energy access

 

COP26 was a big moment in the past year for the energy access sector. The other one was the UN High-Level Dialogues, where SEforALL launched the Energy Compacts initiative. Energy Compacts are voluntary commitments to SDG7 and energy transitions, made by UN Member States and other stakeholders, establishing specific, trackable actions to advance progress on SDG7 and net-zero emissions. The financial commitments articulated in all the Compacts combined will amount to an investment of US $600 billion into achieving SDG7’s goal of sustainable energy for all.

 

The Green Climate Fund, the largest global fund dedicated to fighting climate change, is also supporting several important initiatives in the off-grid solar sector, including the Energy Access Relief Fund and KawiSafi Ventures. Additional announcements and financial commitments at COP26 recognizing that we must pair climate and energy access, two of the biggest challenges the world is facing, were encouraging.

 

However, it is important to realize that much of this funding will not be immediately available to help drive off-grid solar solutions, as it simply takes too long to be mobilized, or does not come in forms and on terms that really help off-grid solar businesses to play their most optimal role in delivering public impacts.

 

Going from commitments to climate action

 

So while more people are talking about clean energy access and there’s definitely momentum that is building, today the biggest obstacle to achieving SDG7 still remains insufficient finance for energy access, at the required scale and on appropriate terms. The off-grid solar sector needs to focus on how to deliver the necessary green transition by ensuring that the available financial flows arrive at scale, locally and faster.

 

As a sector, we need more financing of all types, including public funding, in the form of initiatives that help to de-risk investment and leverage more private finance. Support programs that help make our products and services affordable to everyone, everywhere, are also necessary.

 

To that end, one interesting initiative that could be catalytic is the Leveraging Energy Access Finance Framework (LEAF) blended finance programme, in which the African Development Bank and the Green Climate Fund are cooperating to address the financing barriers that prevent capital flows to the off-grid sector. This model should facilitate investment at scale, and hopefully many more such innovative partnerships will emerge soon.

 

Another challenge the off-grid sector is facing in its efforts to connect with climate financiers is a lack of transparency on aspects of energy companies’ performance that are critical to these investors. GOGLA’s PAYGo Perform, Consumer Protection Code and Circularity activities are aimed at helping these companies improve their financial and impact performance, which is critical when trying to attract investments.

 

The sector needs to find a way to tell its story compellingly, highlighting the fact that there will be profits in the long term, along with other positive human and climate impacts, and those future profits and impact should play a more important role in the narrative. The industry also needs to connect with all its stakeholders, which include governments, investors and development partners, and to improve in how it measures the impact it has on climate adaptation and resilience. These changes can be difficult to execute, but they are key to bringing future profits forward and communicating the long-term gains and benefits off-grid solar creates.

 

Additionally, as new capital is brought into the sector, we need to create the environment for small, local enterprises to thrive, along with more established companies. Targeted capacity building, as well as early-stage finance and patient capital for this distinctive segment, are some of the key elements of this goal. Creating a pipeline and a deal flow of local companies is also critical to accomplishing SDG7 – and all the energy and climate-related SDGs.

 

Advocacy and deeper collaborations are key to moving forward

 

Governments in low-income countries can have a massive impact in creating the environment for off-grid solar companies to thrive – and to be able to provide energy access to the millions of people still living without it. They will also be recipients of energy and climate-focused funding, and have active roles in deciding how to distribute funds intended for both adaptation and recovery from loss and damage.

 

The philanthropic community is also increasingly involved in climate and energy access, as are financial institutions dedicated to supporting mitigation and adaptation. They all need to learn more about off-grid solar, and to recognise its critical role in achieving energy access, development and climate goals.

 

As part of GOGLA’s deepening collaboration with governments and development partners, we are also looking ahead at how we can contribute – for example, with productive use solutions in agriculture, or by helping farmers become less reliant on rain-fed agriculture. We know – but also must show – that off-grid solar energy is a great way to create jobs, build resilience, contribute to gender equality and reduce climate emissions.

 

The only way we can hope to achieve our aims is through partnerships, including new ways of cooperation between the public and private sectors. We are increasingly turning to all our stakeholders with a message of collaboration, so we can work even more closely together to bridge the gaps that still exist within the industry, in order to deliver life-changing, massive results and improve 1 billion lives by 2030. That is the spirit that inspired GOGLA to launch our Power 1 Billion Lives Energy Compact, in which we’ve made commitments of our own as part of SEforALL’s Energy Compacts initiative. We look forward to continuing our work in 2022, to prove both the life-changing potential of the sector – and the investment opportunity it offers.

 

Read more…

 

Go back

Partners News

CBFP Multi-Stakeholders Dialogue, Friday 8 December 2023, from 2 to 3:30 P.M, COMIFAC Pavilion: code TA4-245 - zone B7 (blue zone), Building 87 (Nature), First Floor.

The Multi-stakeholder Dialogue of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) between representatives of donor countries, civil society, the private sector, INGOs and multilaterals in dialogue with representatives of Central African countries will take place on Friday 8 December 2023, 14:00-15:30 at the COMIFAC Initiatives Pavilion, Blue Zone. Theme of the event:“The Central African Forests, vital global biodiversity and carbon reserves: a major challenge for domestic and international mobilisation”.

Countries pledge $400m to set up loss and damage fund - climatechangenews

On day one of UN climate talks in Dubai, negotiators rubber-stamped plans to get the fund up and running. The arrangements had been hashed out by a transitional committee over five fraught meetings in the past year. The Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber hailed the decision as “historic”, with a broad smile, after watching delegates burst into a round of applause.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) will be at COP28, which runs from 30 November to 12 December in Dubai, UAE

As a main operating entity under the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), GCF takes guidance from the Conference of Parties (COP) on its policies, programming priorities, and eligibility criteria. The GCF delegation will be observing the official negotiations, and hosting and taking part in various events.

COP28 Opens in Dubai with Calls for Accelerated Action, Higher Ambition Against the Escalating Climate Crisis - UNFCCC

UN Climate Change News, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 29 November 2023 – The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 will open tomorrow with a resounding call to accelerate collective climate action. The conference takes place in what is already known to be the hottest year ever recorded in human history and as the impacts of the climate crisis wreak unprecedented havoc on human life and livelihoods around the world.

Meeting of CBFP partners at the Three Tropical Basins Summit in the Republic of Congo

On Saturday 28 October 2023, partners of the CBFP attending the Summit of the Three World Tropical Basins of Amazonia, Congo and Borneo-Mekong in the Republic of Congo met at the Kintele Conference Centre in Brazzaville. The meeting provided an opportunity for the partners present at the summit to discuss the implementation of the CBFP Roadmap for the next two years and to prepare for forthcoming international and regional events, with a view to strengthening synergies between the partners and building coalitions in a spirit of partnership in order to create an active dynamic between the partners and colleges of the CBFP.

 

The Three Basins Summit After the summit in Brazzaville, Burundi's President presents guidelines for protecting the forests of the Congo Basin

The Three Basins Summit took place in Brazzaville from 26 to 28 October 2023. At least ten Heads of State from the continent (Congo, DRCongo, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Sao Tome and Principe) attended the event. In a press briefing held on his arrival at Melchior Ndadaye International Airport on Sunday 30 October, the President of the Republic of Burundi, His Excellency Evariste Ndayishimiye, stated that in his report presented in his capacity as Chairman of the Central African Forests Commission, COMIFAC, 208 public areas covering 800 hectares were protected and 800 million forests had been preserved. However, he stressed the need for industrialised countries to join Africa in the fight against atmospheric pollution.

 

Official launch of the CBFP's France-Gabon Co-Facilitation: " We will get there together "

Brazzaville, 30 October 2023. The official launch of the activities of the France - Gabon Co-Facilitation of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) took place on Thursday 26 October 2023 in Room 6 of the Kintele Conference Centre in Congo Brazzaville. Please download the roadmap of the Co-Facilitation..

Tropical Timber Market Report november 2023

To read: West African producers - generally dull international demand; Slump in Malaysia’s exports; Indonesian industry ready to intensify presence in Asian markets; Peeler logs now more readily available in Northern India; Incentives for Peruvian companies obtaining voluntary forest certification; Japanese importers confused over new government requirement; Action required now by tropical wood suppliers to meet EUDR requirements; US wooden furniture imports at lowest since March..

High-level dialogue between COMIFAC forestry ministers and representatives of the CBFP private sector college

On Friday 27 October 2023, the High-Level Dialogue between the Forest Ministers of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) and the private sector of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) took place in Brazzaville on the sidelines of the Summit of the Three Global Tropical Basins of Amazonia, Congo and Borneo-Mekong.

ENB - 59th Session of the International Tropical Timber Council

The fifty-ninth session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC), the governing body of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), opened in Pattaya, Thailand, with a call from the host country for ITTO to continue promoting legal trade in tropical timber and encouraging the use of wood derived from sustainable forest management (SFM). To fulfil their mandate, ITTC member countries took some crucial decisions to navigate the challenging financial and organizational conditions that have buffeted their organization in recent years.

Program of the French Pavilion COP28: Events on climate action by France

The French delegation will be present during the two weeks of COP28 in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). As well as taking part in the climate negotiations, it will be running a France Pavilion throughout the international event, from 30 November to 12 December 2023. The Pavilion will provide a forum for meetings and discussions on key climate issues, and will offer a wide range of events, including themed sessions, presentations of public policies and press events.

WORLD BANK – DRC : The value of DRC's 143 million hectares a of standing forest is estimated at up to US$6.4 trillion, with an estimated annual rental value of US$383 billion

Improved management and conservation could, by 2030, increase the value of DRC's forest-based ecosystem services by US$1.76 billion/year8 over the BAU scenario, and by US$3.8 billion/year by 2050. A comparison of net present values of costs and benefits shows that for every $1 invested today in landscape and forest restoration, DRC stands to gain $15 in benefits by 2050…

Mongabay launches Africa news bureau - Mongabay

In 2023, Mongabay is officially expanding its coverage of environmental and conservation news in Africa by launching a news bureau dedicated to producing our renowned and award-winning brand of journalism in both French and English. The new bureau, Mongabay Africa, will create original reporting on issues relevant to the conservation of Africa’s wildlife and their habitats, development pressures and the activities of natural resource industries, and the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and communities across the continent.

Green Climate Fund 26 October: the GCF Board approved USD 736 million for new projects and readiness strategy to accelerate climate action

The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) concluded its thirty-seventh meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia with major outcomes for climate action. During the three-day meeting, the Board approved 15 proposals totaling USD 736.4 million to fund new climate projects in developing countries. A total of USD 3.6 billion when co-financing is included.

Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform – NEPAD

The 14th  Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) Commemoration and the 19thComprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform convened from October 30th to November 2nd, 2023, in Lusaka, Zambia. The event was structured under the theme, “Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement in the Context of CAADP Commitments for Safer and Healthier Diets.” This vital assembly sought to explore the strategic synergy between implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and fostering healthier, safer diets through the prism of CAADP commitments.

Canada – African Development Bank Climate Fund approves $36.3 million in support to climate adaptation on the continent –AFDB

The Canada–African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF), established to support gender-affirmative climate change projects in Africa, has approved $36.3 million to two private sector operations to advance climate adaptation in the African continent.

Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security: Zambian Vice President underscores role of grey matter infrastructure development – AFDB

African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN), a platform for high-level political engagement to advance nutrition in Africa, has joined two crucial forums for advancing policy dialogue on agriculture and nutrition in Africa. ALN representatives attended the commemoration the 14th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) and 19th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform (PP).

Congo Basin, a neglected world heritage - Nature

The Congo Basin, the world’s second-largest forest has distinct meteorological characteristics, and its ecosystem is controlled by complex interactions between many climatic phenomena that act across scales (Fig. 1). While it receives little attention compared to the Amazon Basin, due to its location, the Congo rainforest also contributes to processes responsible for interhemispheric climatic communications in Africa. At the larger scale, the basin regulates the global tropical circulation by serving as one of the world’s most convectively active regions. Therefore, the Basin offers a unique natural laboratory for climate science explorations and the implications for people and ecosystems. But, why has this green heart of Africa been neglected and what should we do about it?.

A regional retreat to revisit and revitalize the Framework Agreement for Peace, Security and Cooperation in DR Congo and the region – ECCAS

Durban ( South Africa), October 31 to November 01, 2023– How can we breathe new life and energy into the Framework Agreement for Peace, Security and Cooperation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Region? The issue was at the heart of the Regional Retreat on the review of the impact of the Framework Agreement for Peace, Security and Cooperation on the Democratic Republic of Congo and the region, and recommendations for revitalization efforts, held in Durban, South Africa, from October 31 to 01.November 1, 2023.

Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Africa – AU

To elevate women from the micro to macro status, the African Union Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) outlines the pathways to achieve the holistic empowerment of women. The GEWE strategy complements other policy frameworks by the African Union aimed at promoting the rights of women and girls and advocates for adequately resourced gender structures within formal and non-formal institutions and bodies to ensure that women at the grassroot and executive levels, have opportunities that to allow them to reach their full potential.

19th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) - IISD

Government policymakers, mining sector leaders, and civil society will convene to focus on the many issues connected to “Sharing Mining Benefits in the Energy Transition. Setting the tone during the opening of the 19th Annual General Meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Interim Co-President and Co-CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), noted that critical minerals are the backbone of the clean energy transition. She urged mining countries seeking to tap the booming demand for these minerals to take “immediate and bold action” to ensure they expand their share of benefits while doing so in an equitable and environmentally and socially responsible manner.

ATIBT: Feedback on the three basins Summit in Brazzaville

The second Summit of the world's three tropical forest basins was held from October 26 to 28, 2023 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. It brought together leaders from the Amazon, the Congo and the Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia region to form a global coalition. Its aim was to implement, within the framework of the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, the first global coalition for the restoration of 350 million hectares of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Africa’s CAADP Food Systems Guidelines Poised to Drive Transformative Change – NEPAD

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) – Malabo Implementation Guidelines for National Level Design and Implementation of Bankable Agriculture and Food Systems Programmes, is a groundbreaking roadmap to revolutionise food systems across the African continent. Recognising the paramount importance of food systems in achieving human well-being, as highlighted in the African Union Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030, these guidelines provide a comprehensive roadmap for a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive food future.

WCS and COMIFAC Commit to a New Partnership in the Congo Basin to Effectively and Equitably Conserve 30 Percent of Marine and Terrestrial Areas - WCS

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (Oct. 28, 2023) – The Executive Secretariat of the Central African Forest Commission (or Commission des Forêts d'Afrique Centrale - COMIFAC) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of Target 3 of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

ATIBT: Capacity-building for professional associations in the forestry sector in Republic of Congo

ATIBT is speeding up the process of revitalizing the UNIBOIS trade union to get its members more involved in the VPA FLEGT process. As part of the implementation of the Support of the Private Sector in the Republic of Congo (ASP Congo) project, and in particular the " UNIBOIS Support for change" activity, ATIBT organized a meeting on Tuesday April 24 October 2023 at the Mikael Hotel in Brazzaville, to take stock of the project's mid-term activities and assess the state of implementation of the roadmap defined and validated at the start of the project by both parties.

The United States Joins CAFI's Executive Board - CAFI

In a significant move towards enhanced partnerships and coordination, the United States has officially announced its intent to join the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) as an Executive Board member. The announcement was made during a side event of the Three Basins Summit attended by Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso and Minister of the Environment of Congo-Brazzaville Arlette Soudan-Nonault. The Summit was held in Brazzaville from October 26-28, 2023,

CAFI Launches Call for Expressions of Interest for Regional Private Sector Facility - CAFI

CAFI is launching a call for Expressions of Interest today to all relevant implementing organisations interested in investing in private sector companies in our partner countries (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Gabonese Republic, the Republic of Cameroon, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic) to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the following sectors...

COP28: Call for proposals of side events for the “COMIFAC – Central Africa Initiatives Pavilion”

COMIFAC, the GIZ Regional Support Project for COMIFAC, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) France – Gabon Facilitation, the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), the EU Funded Support Project to the Central African Forests Observatory (RIOFAC and The Sangha Tri-National Trust Fund (FTNS)hereby launch a call for proposals to host side events lasting no more than 60 minutes under the « COMIFAC – Central Africa Initiatives », at the COP28 venue from 30th November to 12th December 2023. Applications should be submitted before 31 October 2023.

Declaration from the 2nd Summit of the Three Basins in Brazzaville

In a declaration issued at the end of the Summit of the world's three great basins of the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo-Mekong on Saturday 28 October 2023 in Brazzaville, the Heads of State and Government undertook, among other things, to: to strengthen cooperation between the three basins, which are home to 80% of the world's tropical forests and two-thirds of terrestrial biodiversity; to recognise the unity of enhanced cooperation between the three basins; to recognise the sovereign management of biodiversity, forests and associated resources by the countries that make up the three basins; to pool and capitalise on the knowledge, experience, resources and achievements existing in each of the basins; and to introduce a sustainable system of remuneration for the ecosystem services provided by the three basins".