IRENA And OPEC Fund Join Hands to Unlock Investment For Clean Energy Transition

Scaling up renewable energy investments in West Africa

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) have joined hands for the clean energy transition. The mission is to enable access to sustainable finance in emerging and developing economies.

A Memorandum of Understanding signed on June 21 in Vienna by IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera and the Director-General of the OPEC Fund, Dr Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, formalises the cooperation in the shape of a document. In pursuit of the common objective of a just, inclusive and equitable energy transition aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement, both sides agreed to mobilise finance, unlock investment and support project development on the ground. The process and the principles of investment will be decided by the executives from either side to ensure that the money goes into safe hands and returns in form of green energy.

IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera said, “The global energy transition must dramatically accelerate. To achieve net zero and universal energy access, our World Energy Transitions Outlook shows that we must nearly treble the speed of deployment of renewables and massively redirect investment towards transition. Our cooperation with the OPEC Fund will help unlock much needed capital in developing countries to bring economic growth, sustainable prosperity and jobs to people through renewables projects on the ground.”

OPEC Fund Director-General Abdulhamid Alkhalifa added, “We promote an inclusive and just energy transition that leaves no one behind. Our cooperation with IRENA will help to provide the necessary funds and facilitate access to innovative financing solutions, knowledge and technologies, as well as technical assistance for project development and capacity building to support the energy transition in our partner countries, particularly in Africa.”

Both sides will need to closely collaborate, provide technical assistance and capacity building to project developers, creating a pipeline of bankable projects ready to be financed. They will also need to attract potential investors. The parties will also explore cooperation under the IRENA-managed Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) Platform, the Climate Investment Platform (CIP), and OPEC Fund initiatives such as the planned Energy Access and Transition Trust Fund.

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Both sides will also closely collaborate at UN Climate Conferences COP27 in Egypt in November 2022 and COP28 in the United Arab Emirates in November 2023.

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