Developing countries need finance to green power sectors – Survey

A new survey conducted by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has shown that developing countries in Africa, Asia among others urgently need financial support to green their power sectors and implement their national climate action plans under the Paris Climate Change Agreement. According to the report, the central goal of the Paris […]

A new survey conducted by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has shown that developing countries in Africa, Asia among others urgently need financial support to green their power sectors and implement their national climate action plans under the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

According to the report, the central goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit the global average temperature rise as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“Transitioning the power sector to low carbon is crucial to meet this goal, as generating power using coal, gas and oil is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change,” the report stated.

The survey, which was carried out with 79 countries responding, also found that whilst many countries are receiving some form of support to increase transparency (measurement, reporting and verification) from international organisations, in most cases this support is not enough.

The survey clearly indicates that countries believe that making use of the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) can help them to achieve their climate action commitments

“Under the CDM, projects in developing countries earn a saleable credit for each tonne of greenhouse gas they reduce or avoid, including through projects in the power sector. The incentive has led to the registration of more than 8,000 projects and programmes in 111 countries and the issuance of over1.7 billion CERs.”

Survey participants said they believed the CDM to be a mechanism that has effectively driven private sector investment in the power sector in their countries.