ETAF has raised US$1.15 billion to date
ADB T he OPEC Fund is set to join two events at COP28 with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The first will launch the Nature Solutions Finance Hub for climate and the environment – a new biodiversity platform that aims to create a range of nature-based projects that are bankable and scalable. The ADB plans to use the hub to scale-up finance from private, public and philanthropic sources into a growing pipeline of nature-based projects across Asia and the Pacific, estimating that US$25 billion out of US$100 billion can be targeted to finance nature and biodiversity directly and support “nature-positive outcomes” in general. The OPEC Fund’s second engagement with the ADB is, at time of writing, still to be finalized but will likely build on recent joint projects. For example, at the OPEC Fund Development Forum in June 2023, the ADB’s Climate Envoy Warren Evans explained our Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) initiative: “Climate impacts are increasing in frequency and intensity, so the economic impacts will just increase in turn, and Thailand is looking at innovative ways of trying to adapt to these climate impacts. The BCG initiative is designed to help them achieve that by looking at biodiversity conservation, natural resource management and resilience. “The OPEC Fund is playing a critical role by providing a technical assistance grant, which will help Thailand design and implement the project at the initial stage. The first stage is critical for getting things o ff the ground. You want to see success, you want to see progress, you want to see it in a hurry, and having the grant resources from the OPEC Fund will enable Thailand to do that.” Climate impacts are increasing in frequency and intensity, so the economic impacts will just increase in turn.
IRENA I n partnership with IRENA, and alongside senior leadership from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), renewable energy developer Masdar and global reinsurer Swiss Re, OPEC Fund senior management will speak on a roundtable that will showcase successful projects from the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) platform. The roundtable will showcase the socio-economic and environmental impacts of projects launched within the platform, emphasizing how renewable energy initiatives can improve the lives and economies of local communities. The event will also discuss how these projects are contributing to the UN Paris Agreement goals and broader e ff orts to speed up the global energy transition. Finally, the hosts will invite feedback about the platform from attendees and encourage developers to submit new project proposals. Nawal Al-Hosany, Permanent Representative of the UAE to IRENA, gave a snapshot of the innovative financing platform during the OPEC Fund Development Forum in June, 2023: “ETAF was launched at COP26 in Glasgow with the aim of raising up to US$1 billion to achieve 5 gigawatts worth of energy projects by 2030 in the world’s least developed countries. And thanks
We are extremely proud to have exceeded our targets not only for mobilized funds, but also in terms of actual project implementation.
Nawal Al-Hosany, UAE, Permanent Representative to IRENA
in part to the generous contributions of the OPEC Fund, we are actually overachieving — having now raised US$1.15 billion. But there’s more. We are extremely proud to have exceeded our targets not only for mobilized funds, but also in terms of
actual project implementation. This shows the commitment of partners to mobilize funds through this platform for renewable projects worldwide.”
Warren Evans, ADB, Special Senior Advisor (Climate Change)
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