As prepared for Delivery
Good afternoon. Thank you to the COP29 Presidency of Azerbaijan, the COP28 Presidency of the UAE, and the European Commission for co-hosting today’s event.
Transitioning to diversified, clean energy is essential to meet rising demand, create jobs, and boost economic growth.
Yet, developing countries can face major obstacles, and can even end up paying a “triple penalty”: high capital costs, restricted access to clean energy, and reliance on costly fossil fuels, which raises electricity costs and makes the transition more challenging.
To achieve a low-carbon shift, developing countries will need around $2.4 trillion per year by 2030.
While $500 billion is already spent annually on fossil fuel power, this funding must be urgently redirected to clean energy.
Some of this financing will come from multilateral development banks, including the World Bank Group, which has financed over $16 billion for renewables in the last eight years, doubling our annual investments.
We are replenishing IDA, our fund for the poorest countries, and making changes to IBRD to expand funding for middle-income countries.
However, this is still insufficient. We need to strategically leverage scarce concessional resources and mobilize private sector capital to meet funding needs. With stretched sovereign balance sheets, it's critical to leverage markets and private capital.
The World Bank works to reduce financing and regulatory risks that increase capital costs, especially in renewable sectors.
Our approach includes supporting governments to create stable, investor-friendly environments and offering knowledge and advisory support to guide policy reforms.
Additionally, we help strengthen institutional capacity, particularly within electricity utilities, which are key to a sound electricity sector. Utilities must be efficient and financially stable, with tariff protections for the poor.
We also focus on building a pipeline of bankable clean energy investments. Through competitive procurement, we help ensure affordability in renewable projects, with energy efficiency as a core part of our strategy.
Recently, we launched a 10-year energy efficiency program in Europe and Central Asia, with energy savings equivalent to Switzerland’s annual consumption.
Our financial tools, including guarantees and innovations like results-based climate finance, help projects attract private capital.
In Africa, for instance, we plan to double annual energy financing from $3 billion to $6 billion until 2030.
Together with the African Development Bank, we aim to provide electricity access to 300 million African households by 2030 through “Mission 300,” using off-grid solar and green grids.
Governments have a crucial role in reforming utilities, enhancing sector efficiency, and enabling new capacity. Private investments in generation, transmission, distribution, and regional interconnection will be essential.
Aligned with COP29’s goals, we are advancing key energy initiatives.
ESMAP’s Global Energy Storage Program has supported over 6.5 GWh of battery storage, while our Hydrogen for Development Partnership and 10 GW Clean Hydrogen Initiative are underway.
Additionally, we’re developing high-integrity carbon markets to bring grant-like capital to governments.
Together, we can overcome the financing challenge and aim for a world free from poverty on a livable planet.
We look forward to new partnerships to realize this vision.
