BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 12. Multilateral development banks have invested in projects with a total capacity of 30 gigawatts since 2006, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso said at a ministerial dialogue themed "Scaling up Investment for Tripling Renewables and Doubling Energy Efficiency" within COP29 in Baku today, Trend reports.
"We work in countries with developing markets, where we are witnessing significant changes. It is important to note that multilateral development banks are honoring their commitments. The main goal of our mission is, of course, to provide financing. We are actively funding projects in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and we are seeing significant acceleration in this area.
Since 2006, we have invested in projects with a total capacity of 30 gigawatts, but just in 2023 alone - five gigawatts, which is a substantial acceleration, representing 25 percent of investments in renewable energy in the countries where we operate, indicating strong demand.
The second aspect is the implementation of energy efficiency. A quarter of the projects we invest in include components aimed at improving energy efficiency - whether it’s decarbonizing processes, supporting households, small and medium-sized businesses, housing construction, or working through partner financial institutions. Since 2006, we have invested $33 billion in energy efficiency projects, with a significant portion of these investments made in the last year," she added.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened on November 11 at the Baku Olympic Stadium.
The event is the largest organized by Azerbaijan to date and is the first time the region has hosted the event in Azerbaijan. Within COP29, the highest-level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - will be held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 chairmanship has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
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