Bezos' renewables alliance targets $7.5 billion for developing countries

Executives from an alliance installing renewable energy in developing nations want to invest $7.5 billion over its next five-year plans. They are also looking for more philanthropic partnerships as richer countries cut their government aid.

The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet was launched in 2021 at the global climate talks. It has assisted more than 30 countries in improving electricity grids, setting up battery storage and creating jobs in green economy.

The program secures money at a low or no cost from governmental or charitable sources in order to lower the risk of investment and attract money from private lenders and multilateral development banks. Since Donald Trump's administration, the task has become more difficult.

GEAPP was founded by IKEA Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Bezos Earth Fund. Since then, the list of partners has expanded to include companies like GE Vernova, as well as countries like Britain and Denmark.

WORLD LEADERS GATHER FOR NEW YORK 'CLIMATE WEEK'

Woochong um, the chief executive of the organization, said that the group is seeking new partners as world leaders gather this week in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly and the "climate week" taking place.

The alliance also looks ahead to the next climate conference, which will be held in Brazil in November. Finding the financing to assist developing countries in switching to green energy will play a major role at this event as it did in previous climate conferences.

Um stated that "with aid budgets under stress, we need to find new models for delivering development at scale." Plans include "an Energy and Opportunity Coalition", which will embed green energy into sectors like agriculture and health.

SEVEN-FOLD INCREASE in CLEAN ENERGY REQUIRED

The International Energy Agency says that to meet the global climate target, clean energy investments in developing countries outside China must increase six-fold by early 2030s to $1.6 trillion.

Data from the OECD revealed that official development aid in real terms fell 7.1% by 2024. This was the first decline in six years. The drop in U.S. funding led to increased pressure on groups like GEAPP, who were forced to expand their range of supporters.

DIGITALLY-INTELLIGENT AND RENEWABLES-READY

Um said the alliance for renewables would work to increase its efforts on "Grids of the Future", which it calls ensuring that power systems in emerging countries are ready for renewables, digitally intelligent and financially sustainable.

He said that the group was working on battery storage projects in over 20 countries, including India's utility-scale system. The goal is to digitalise millions grids across Asia and Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Latin America.

In Jaipur we are creating a digital map that shows 6.5 million assets of the utility so they can identify problems before outages occur. This will save more than $50,000,000 a year.

The ambition is to duplicate this in 10 utilities across India, Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. This will create a global network of digital and renewable distribution utilities.

In its first five-year program, GEAPP mobilized $7.8 billion of financing, which it expects will deliver new and improved access to energy to nearly 240 millions people, and reduce carbon emission by 952,000,000 metric tons.

Um stated that the alliance between 2026-2030 would aim to raise $500 million of philanthropic funds and leverage them 15 times in order to unlock $7.5 billion. (Reporting and editing by Barbara Lewis; Simon Jessop)

(source: Reuters)