This side event, organised by the Private Finance Action Network (PFAN) with the participation of REEEP in its function as PFAN executing partner, represents an opportunity for thought leaders to exchange views and experience on issues pertaining to facilitating investment in low carbon, climate resilient projects and businesses in Africa. The discussion will focus on ways and means to scale up efforts in meeting the climate commitments of the countries in the region. Key stakeholders – policy makers, financiers, as well as representatives from international organizations – will interact on salient issues around delivering technical assistance combined with appropriate financing to foster climate technologies deployment.
The Paris Agreement calls on all countries to contribute to reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses fast enough to limit global warming to well below 2 °C, which will require the deployment of clean energy on a large scale. In developing countries, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) could play a crucial role in rapidly deploying low carbon, climate resilient technologies, but they face a lack of access to finance. Governments alone cannot provide enough capital to enable a clean energy transition at the speed and scale necessary to meet global climate and energy challenges.
The Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) plays a unique role in the low carbon, climate resilient space, addressing barriers to climate finance at the SME level in developing countries and emerging economies on demand and supply sides. PFAN mobilizes private sector expertise in financing climate-friendly projects and technologies to screen business plans and provide guidance to projects that are economically viable, as well as environmentally and socially beneficial.
To scale up operations and ensure a larger impact, PFAN has recently made institutional and governance changes. PFAN is now hosted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in collaboration with the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).
This side event is expected to inform future undertakings and partnerships related to pursing sustainable pathways in African countries with a view to achieving the goals of the 2016 UNFCCC Paris Agreement and meeting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Panellists:
- Joao Duarte Cunha, Head of SEFA Secretariat, African Development Bank
- Representative, African Union Commission (tba)
- Mahama Kappiah, Executive Director, ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE)
- Martin Hiller, Director General, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP)
- Collin Green, Global Climate Change Unit, USAID
The event will be held in Salle 2 of the Africa Pavilion.
