Norway earmarks NOK 80 million for global clean energy investment fund

Dec 12, 2008 - Asia Pulse Data Source

Norway earmarked some NOK80 million for the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF) to combat climate change and promote clean energy in developing countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday.

The European Commission has already invested EUR 23 million in GEEREF. Further contributions totaling EUR 100 million have been pledged for the next four years. GEEREF is part of an umbrella fund structure, the European Initiative on Clean, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Related to Development.

The public-private partnership was initiated by the European Commission and Norway and Germany are the first two public donors to the fund which aims to boost investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.

We must do everything we can to help developing countries make a technological leap forward and increase their use of renewable energy sources such as solar energy and hydropower. Poor countries can reap huge economic and environmental benefits through energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy, said Minister Erik Solheim of the Ministry of Environment and International Development.

Minister Solheim stressed that public-private partnerships is an important way of obtaining sufficient funding for adaptation to climate change in poor countries.

The GEEREF will focus on investments in smaller projects, up to EUR 10 million on areas that are generally ignored by private investors and international financial institutions.

This fund can be a prototype for investment mechanisms that will attract private investors who are looking for a return on their investments, and that will also give an economic return on the public funds that are invested, Minister Solheim said. (PNA)