Europe to help developing countries combat climate change

While today, some 1.6 billion people in the world’s poorer countries have no regular access to reliable energy services, promoters of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects face significant difficulties in raising commercial funding.

It is hoped that the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF)  will mobilise private sector finance, especially in small scale projects, to accelerate the transfer, development and deployment of environmentally sound technologies

The fund is the first concrete measure to come out of the “European Initiative on Clean, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change related to Development”

GEEREF will invest in regional sub-funds in the African, Caribbean and Pacific region, North Africa, non-EU Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. The focus will be on investments below €10 million, which are mostly ignored by commercial investors and international finance institutions.

While the Commission will put €80 million into GEEREF in 2007–2010, total initial funding from public and commercial sources of €150 million to €200 million is anticipated, and this is expected to mobilise additional risk capital of at least €300 million and possibly up to €1 billion in the longer term.