Donations kick-start World Bank deforestation and renewables funds

A $100 million (£0.63m) pledge from the Government of Japan has helped secure the funding base and kick-started the operational phase of two World Bank climate programmes supporting forest management and renewable energy investments in developing countries.

At the first meeting of the Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries (SREP) sub-committee in Washington, the Japanese government pledged $40 million to the programme, already supported by the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

Japan also pledged $60 million to the Forest Investment Program (FIP); other donors include Australia, Denmark, Norway, the UK, and the US.

Total pledged contributions to SREP and FIP now amount to $300 million and $400 million respectively.

The two programmes are funded under the World Bank's Strategic Climate Fund, one of two funds established as part of the $6 billion multi-stakeholder Climate Investment Funds (CIF). Governing bodies for the two newest programs will meet at World Bank headquarters in Washington to begin the selection process for pilot countries to receive their support.

"These Climate Investment Fund meetings send a strong signal that donor and recipient countries alike want action for climate transformation. All of the proposed CIF programs have now been given enough financial support to move into operations," said Katherine Sierra, vice president for sustainable development at the World Bank, which manages and administers the funds in partnership with other development banks.

The Climate Investment Funds are designed to test what can be achieved to initiate transformational change towards low-carbon and climate-resilient development through scaled-up financing channelled through the multilateral development banks.

"This is also an unprecedented opportunity to scale up experiences and a growing knowledge base so that the pilot countries become real-time global laboratories for climate action," said Sierra.

The FIP supports countries' efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) by financing investments to address the causes of deforestation and forest degradation. The SREP will help a small number of low-income countries initiate energy sector transformation by helping them take renewable energy solutions to a national programmatic level.

Both programs operate through a governing mechanism with equal representation by contributor and recipient countries, and which officially includes representatives of the broader stakeholder base, including NGOs, indigenous peoples, and observers from the private sector.

All CIF stakeholders will gather in Manila at the Asian Development Bank from 18 to 19 March in a Partnership Forum for a dialogue about CIF accomplishments and challenges, and to begin to collectively harvest knowledge on climate action emerging from early CIF work.