Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency  in Developing countries

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Developing countries

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Approach in Developing Countries

 

Developing countries are achieving low-cost emissions reductions through renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) projects and initiatives. The focus of this report is to evaluate the impact of these projects in terms of measurable greenhouse gas emissions’ reductions to help close the emissions gap needed to meet the 2°C climate goal.

 

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions created by a sample of 273 internationally supported RE and EE projects  in developing countries implemented between 2005 and 2016 amount to approximately 0.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide (GtCO2) annually by 2020. Of the analysed 273 projects,  197 are RE, 62 are EE, and 14 are both RE and EE. These efforts reduce emissions by displacing fossil fuel energy production with clean energy technologies and by conserving energy in industry, buildings, and transportation. The analysed sample’s RE projects contribute approximately 0.084 GtCO2, EE projects contribute 0.113 GtCO2 and RE/EE projects contribute 0.059 GtCO2 to the
total emissions reductions. These projects received direct foreign  support totaling US $32 billion. This analysis builds upon the second 1 Gt Coalition report, which examined data from 224  projects (see Annex I for more details).
Reductions in GHG emissions resulting from all internationally supported RE and EE projects in developing  countries implemented between 2005 and 2016 could be 0.6 GtCO2 per year in 2020. This estimate is determined by scaling up the analysed sample’s emissions reductions to a global level using the total bilateral and multilateral support for RE and EE from 2005 to 2016 (US $76 billion). These international investments create crucial enabling conditions in developing countries and emerging economies, where there are significant barriers to  private RE and EE investment. GHG emissions reductions from internationally supported RE and  EE projects could be on the order
of 1.4 GtCO2e per year by 2020 if committed public finance for climate mitigation is used to scale up these  activities. Developed countries agreed in 2010 to mobilize US $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change and reduce their emissions. To calculate the 1.4 GtCO2e estimate, it is assumed that a quarter of the US $100 billion is public mitigation finance and deployed in the same way as for the 273 analysed projects.