According to Reuters, last Friday, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, stated that the agency will work to ensure that the World Bank, regional development banks, and other financial institutions prioritize investing in clean energy in developing countries after the COP28 summit.

Previously, at the COP28 United Nations Climate Conference, governments around the world agreed to triple renewable energy generation capacity and phase out fossil fuels by 2030, but no mechanism was reached to help developing countries transition to clean energy.

According to Birol's energy conference held in Istanbul last Friday, clean energy investment in emerging and developing countries has been average since 2015, but global clean energy investment has almost doubled, with most of the growth coming from China and developed countries.

However, there are still some risks involved in investing in renewable energy in developing countries.

Birol stated that the main risk is that the cost of investing in solar power plants in developing countries may be four times higher than in developed countries, which leads to many capital being deterred.

Birol told reporters, "Our job is to ensure clean energy financing, reduce investment risks, and provide preferential funding, which is also a key consideration for investment by the World Bank, regional development banks, and the financial sector. For the IEA, the main issue from now until the Baku Summit will be how to find low-risk mechanisms to ensure that funds flow to developing and emerging countries." The next climate summit will be held in Baku next year.

Currently, as the region with the best lighting conditions in the world, Africa has 60% of the world's solar energy resources and is also the region with the most potential for solar energy investment. According to a previous analysis report by the International Renewable Energy Agency on the renewable energy market in Africa, it is believed that the entire continent has 7900GW of solar photovoltaic potential.

In addition, due to the rapid growth of the total population and differences in economic development stages, the per capita electricity consumption in Africa is huge, and there are often power outages, resulting in extremely high electricity demand. Photovoltaics, as the lowest cost clean energy, have a unique advantage in Africa, and the growth momentum is also very strong. Currently, many Chinese and European companies have started investing in solar energy in North Africa.

Article citation: China Electric Power Grid