By Gordon French
Caribbean Net News Guyana Correspondent
Email: gordon@caribbeannetnews.com
GEORGETOWN, Guyana: A sustainable energy and climate change initiative has been approved by the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to help the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to expand the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
Part of the plan is to increase access to international carbon finance, and support efforts to adapt to climate change.
The IDB will help countries to assess their potential for renewable energy and energy efficiency to meet their energy needs. It will also work to minimize regulatory, institutional, and financial barriers to
making investments in these areas while increasing incentives. In addition, the IDB will finance renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The initiative also calls for the IDB to help countries assess their potential as producers of bio-fuels, promote policies that support bio-fuel development, and finance bio-fuel projects and the adaptation of new bio-fuel technologies.
In the area of greenhouse gas reduction, the Bank will develop so-called Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in which entities in industrialized countries receive credit in exchange for financing projects in developing countries that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The IDB will work to lower transaction costs and risks for such operations as well as strengthen the capacity of the region’s countries to participate in the international carbon market.
Finally, the Bank will consider the risk of climate change in operations in its borrowing countries, particularly to reduce the vulnerability of urban and regional infrastructure and rural communities.
In the past year the IDB approved financing for a number of projects to promote sustainable energy and climate change mitigation, including support for creating business models for energy efficiency
services, an analysis of the role and potential for bio-fuels in Central America, an assessment of the potential for bio-fuel production from sugar cane in Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados and the possibilities for these countries to obtain carbon credits through the CDM specialised market.
In June of this year the IDB will present an action plan that establishes targets,milestones,timeframes, and responsibilities for priority actions and a budget for activities included in the initiative. The plan will also include activities for raising awareness and providing technical support to IDB staff and the Bank’s clients.
In addition, the Bank will meet with donor agencies to establish financial contributions for the initiative.
The new initiative and action plan follows a series of studies and events that the Bank has undertaken to identify opportunities and needs for renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Last November the IDB held a regional conference, “Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Investment in Latin American and the Caribbean” in which decision-makers from the public and private sectors discussed how to increase investments in sustainable energy in the priority areas of energy production, housing, transportation and industry, as well as opportunities for climate change mitigation and adaptation. |
