WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said on Tuesday that it had signed a partnership with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) that will help drive the energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in line with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.
“The partnership is built around knowledge-sharing in the context of promoting regional integration, renewable energy investment, finance and risk mitigation in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said the Washington-based financial institution in a statement.
“In particular, the two parties will support each other’s initiatives, such as IDB’s Energy Hub and the IRENA’s Climate Investment Platform — a multi-stakeholder initiative established at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit Climate Action Summit 2019,” it added.
Specifically, IDB said it will work with IRENA to enhance access to sustainable finance in the region by supporting the creation of market conditions that are conducive to renewable energy investments and that facilitate the development of renewable energy projects.
The IDB said both institutions are committed to scaling up renewable energy ambition and deployment to support the realisation of economic and climate goals in the region.
“We’re thrilled to partner with IRENA to promote our region’s transition to a sustainable energy future at a critical time” said IDB’s President Mauricio Claver-Carone. “At the IDB, we are convinced that the post-pandemic recovery must have a focus on sustainability and green growth”.
Francesco La Camera, IRENA Director-General, said “facilitating access to sustainable finance is fundamental to the acceleration of the world’s energy transition”.
“Renewable energy investment needs to double to if we are to align with a climate-safe path,” he added. “IDB is an active investor in Latin America and the Caribbean’s energy transition, and I believe, through this partnership, we can strengthen efforts to put the region at the forefront of the de-carbonisation agenda.”
The IDB said the Climate Investment Platform is an inclusive partnership between IRENA, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) and the United Nations Development Program in coordination with the Green Climate Fund.
“The platform aims to mobilise climate capital to scale up climate action and support the realisation of climate-related targets within Nationally Determined Contributions,” the IDB said.
It said IRENA joins the LAC Energy Hub, a digital platform that showcases innovative data visualisations and seeks to foster energy policy innovation, research and mutual collaboration among its partners.
The platform was launched in 2020, and includes partners such as the Latin American Energy Organization, SEforAll, the Latin America and Caribbean Economic Commission and the Ibero-American Association of Energy Regulating Agencies, the IDB said.
The IDB said it has collaborated with IRENA in the past, coordinating knowledge exchange activities and technical workshops on renewable energy and energy integration and, most recently, partnered under the Renewable Energy Latin America and Caribbean initiative.
This initiative aims to promote cooperation among the LAC countries towards a regional target of 70 per cent of RE installed capacity for power generation by 2030.
“The signing of this agreement institutionalizes the partnership between both organisations, and marks a new phase for stronger collaboration and cooperation,” the IDB said.
It said IRENA is the lead intergovernmental agency for the global energy transformation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future and serves as the principal platform for international co-operation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy.
With 163 members (162 States and the European Union) and 21 additional countries in the accession process and actively engaged, the IDB said IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy “in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity”.
