{"id":542110,"date":"2010-04-23T10:10:24","date_gmt":"2010-04-23T14:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"11590 at http:\/\/www.wri.org"},"modified":"2010-04-23T10:10:24","modified_gmt":"2010-04-23T14:10:24","slug":"the-world-bank-mdbs-and-low-carbon-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/542110","title":{"rendered":"The World Bank, MDBs, and Low Carbon Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Multilateral Development Banks can play a leading role in promoting more sustainable energy options.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Governments around the world are struggling
\nto mitigate dangerous climate change while
\nsecuring the energy they need to sustain
\neconomic development. The need to direct future
\ninvestment to meet the world\u2019s energy needs away
\nfrom polluting fossil fuels, and into more sustainable,
\nlow-carbon options has never been more urgent.
\nAchieving this goal will require the right policies,
\nregulations, and institutional capacities to be in
\nplace. It will also require leadership from governments,
\nand from development institutions. The Multilateral
\nDevelopment Banks (MDBs<\/abbr>), including the
\nWorld Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Inter-
\nAmerican Development Bank have an important role
\nto play in advancing more sustainable energy for
\nseveral reasons.<\/p>\n

\n

MDBs<\/abbr> can do
\nmuch more to ensure that the issues of sustainability
\nand governance are integrated
\ninto their policy advice and lending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

First, most future growth in energy demand, approximately
\n90% by 2030 according to the Interntional
\nEnergy Agency, will come from developing
\ncountries, where the MDBs<\/abbr> have a long history of
\nengagement with the electricity sector. Second, these
\ninternational financial institutions are already channeling
\nemergency assistance to developing countries
\nto weather the economic storm, providing opportunities
\nto guide the energy and infrastructure sectors on
\nto a new low-carbon path. The World Bank alone has
\nset aside US $55 billion over three years for infrastructure
\nin vulnerable developing countries. Third,
\nMDBs<\/abbr> and in particular the World Bank are assuming
\na growing role in helping finance climate change
\nsolutions in developing countries.<\/p>\n

Taken together, these circumstances provide a
\npowerful rationale for MDBs<\/abbr> to help countries reach
\na sustainable energy future that dramatically reduces
\ngreenhouse gas emissions while responding to the
\nneeds of the world\u2019s poor. However, the MDBs<\/abbr> can do
\nmuch more to ensure that the issues of sustainability
\nand governance vital to such a transition are integrated
\ninto their policy advice and lending.<\/p>\n

Recent analysis from WRI<\/a> suggests that MDB investments in
\nelectricity sector policy have often missed opportunities
\nto address these issues of sustainability. In
\nparticular, issues of governance, such as the capacity
\nof government, regulatory agencies, and utilities to oversee and implement sustainable energy solutions,
\nare often overlooked.<\/p>\n

MDBs<\/abbr> could play a role
\nin assisting developing countries to transition toward
\nlow-carbon sustainable development. But in order
\nto be effective, their core electricity sector programs
\nmust more comprehensively reflect the important elements
\nof environmental and social sustainability identified
\nin this framework. In particular, these programs
\nmust consistently include support for institutional
\ncapacity, and improve governance.<\/p>\n

The inter-related challenges of climate change and
\nenergy security are complex in nature and global in
\nscale. But the solutions exist if the political will can be
\nfound. There is no room left for \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d
\nmodels, or business as usual financing, and the
\nMDBs<\/abbr> should be playing a leadership role.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

This piece originally appeared as the Foreword to Investing in Sustainable Energy Futures: Multilateral Development Banks’ Investments in Energy Policy.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

David Runnalls is the CEO and President of the International Institute for Sustainable Development.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Multilateral Development Banks can play a leading role in promoting more sustainable energy options. Governments around the world are struggling to mitigate dangerous climate change while securing the energy they need to sustain economic development. The need to direct future investment to meet the world\u2019s energy needs away from polluting fossil fuels, and into more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4285,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-542110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4285"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}