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Spanish Version

This article is a reprint. The original has been published on Teorema Ambiental, an on-line Mexican magazine on environmental technology

 

December 2, 2010, Mexico DF - A year ago in Copenhagen, industrialized nations agreed to help raise $30 billion for climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts in developing countries. Whether the controversial Climate Accord will amount to more than empty political promises rides on the donor community’s actions to fulfill its financial commitments.

One instrument that can put teeth behind the climate rhetoric is a little-noticed institution known as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the official trust fund of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC). With an impressive track record of leveraging funding (since 1991, recipients have raised an estimated $38.7 billion in co-financing to support $8.8 billion in GEF financing, an enviable leveraging ratio of more than 4 to 1), the GEF is ready to continue its mission and start acting on the needed changes expressed, but not established, in Copenhagen.

Moving forward on that commitment, the GEF received a record boost from donor countries earlier this month with more than 30 nations pledging $4.25 billion in what will be the first significant multilateral step toward the commitments in Copenhagen on climate change and in other key international environmental agreements. The $ 4.25 billion pledged for the next four years was the largest ever increase in funding for the GEF.

“This replenishment is the first tangible confirmation of the financial commitments made in Copenhagen last December,” noted GEF CEO Monique Barbut. “It includes some of the fast-start climate change financing dedicated to REDD+, a new initiative inside the GEF linked to sustainable forest management.” About $1.35 billion will be programmed for the climate change focal area.

Investing at the Local Level
The GEF has tended to employ a bottom-up rather than top-down approach. It invests in projects that address climate change at a local level, such as incorporating fuel cell buses into Beijing’s public transportation system or providing off-grid photovoltaics to rural villages in India, a step toward ameliorating the problem of some two billion in developing nations with no access to modern energy services. Establishing projects in this way directly transfers technology know-how, encouraging additional investors by making energy and low-emission technologies more affordable and sustainable.

In Mexico, the GEF is working to help the country tap into a potential 40 gigawatts of power from the wind blowing across its mountain ranges. Currently under way is a 10-year, $307 million plan that is designed to spur wind farm growth in Mexico’s breeziest reaches. The GEF provided $34 million—the remaining $273 million comes from at least a dozen financial backers, including the Mexico Ministry of Energy and the Inter-American Development Bank.

The GEF’s latest wind power success in Mexico is La Venta III, a 102-megawatt project slated to begin operations later this year. This project piggybacks on the launch of La Venta II, an 83.5-megawatt wind farm in the far southern state of Oaxaca that was completed in 2007. Harnessing Mexico’s wind has the potential to power at least 32 million homes with low-carbon energy.

The GEF Mission
The GEF’s goal isn’t just to introduce new clean energy technology to developing countries; it’s the longer-term results that matter. With access to electricity, communities see incomes rise. People can pump the water they need to irrigate crops, power their cottage industries and light their homes, schools and hospitals. And global emissions levels begin to decrease.

Seeing these results on the ground requires more than just introducing new technologies in local areas. Before the first wind turbine even turned in Mexico, the GEF’s technical staff had to determine how to overcome a lengthy list of challenges. These included inviting private developers and investors to the renewable energy table, attracting companies to manufacture wind turbines, training local workers to craft and maintain that infrastructure and encouraging government leaders to adopt renewable-friendly policies.

Establishing domestic and international collaboration is also key, and the reason why the GEF builds public-private partnerships. In Mexico, the GEF worked with in-country resources such as the Electrical Research Institute, the Regional Wind Technology Centre and numerous government authorities to implement the wind project.

By ensuring that all aspects of the investment are covered, the GEF has established itself as an organization that produces results. Its three climate change priorities—expanding the use of wind, solar and other renewables; making light fixtures, buildings and industrial equipment more energy efficient; and pushing for cleaner cars, trucks, buses and trains that emit far fewer heat-trapping greenhouse gases—are more pressing in a world where energy demand is projected to grow 45 percent by 2030. Simply put, the GEF’s mission involves building from the ground up to support local projects that protect the global environment.

Funding a Sustainable Future
Whether experimenting with fuel cell buses in Brazil, reducing refrigerator energy consumption in Tunisia or making brick kilns more fuel efficient in Bangladesh, the GEF has built its steady, progressive reputation by nurturing relationships with like-minded partners in the public and private sectors. In doing so, the GEF has leveraged funds for more than 2,400 environmental projects in China, India, Argentina, Russia, South Africa and 160 other countries.

As energy costs rise and the impacts of climate change start taking their toll, developing countries become more vulnerable and susceptible to falling behind. The GEF is committed to stepping forward with sensible, long-term solutions that can make a big difference in people’s daily lives.

One strategy the GEF is using to have such an impact involves conducting technology demonstrations at high-profile world events. These demonstrations promote transfer by acclimating users and cities with the logistics of new technologies while showcasing the benefits before a global audience.

For example, the GEF leveraged almost $23 million for a project to catalyze the cost reduction and encourage the adoption of energy-efficient fuel cell buses for public transit in Chinese cities. The project began with a demonstration at the Olympics in Beijing and is entering its second demonstration phase at the World Expo in Shanghai. Six hydrogen-powered fuel cell buses are currently serving the fleet of zero-emission buses shuttling visitors along the main bus route at the Expo. The effort will be multiplied in additional Chinese cities in an effort to mainstream low-carbon alternatives for public transportation.

The GEF is also putting $10 million into a $328 million program to green South Africa’s public transportation system in time for this summer’s FIFA 2010 World Cup tournament. The goal is to encourage more attendees to leave their cars behind and significantly reduce the World Cup’s carbon footprint. The South African Department of Transport is leading this effort in Durban, Pretoria, Johannesburg and the four other venue cities to replace or upgrade deteriorating commuter trains, create a coordinated transportation plan and enforce traffic laws.

Looking ahead, the GEF’s energy efficiency investments alone are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.3 billion tonnes by 2020. As UN climate change talks resume in November in Cancún, the GEF’s successes provide concrete examples of what can be accomplished when action is taken and funds are applied strategically to leverage resources, build local capacities and showcase the global benefits of clean energy alternatives.

And now, with a new funding cycle in place through 2014, the GEF is poised to play a key role in delivering the promises made in Copenhagen.

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