 The WBG has has embarked upon a strategy for RE with our partner countries as part of the commitment we made at the Bonn International Conference in June 2004. |
Under the guidance of Jamal Saghir, Director for Energy and Water, Anil Cabraal is leading this work in the Energy Anchor. Describing the effort he indicates that: “Our approach is to provide support to country teams and operations staff to better integrate renewables and efficiency into lending programs. Our aim is not to pursue renewables opportunistically or haphazardly, but to target countries where these energy components make for a sensible addition to the Bank’s lending program and can contribute to the broader development agenda.” This strategy addresses the goal of building its renewable energy and energy efficiency pipeline as well as longer-term issues such as systematic consideration of renewable energy options in key planning documents. It also involves developing more streamlined approaches to using GEF resources and mainstreaming Carbon Finance operations into regional lending programs. Going forward, the specific objectives include the following commintments made at the Bonn Conference:
- The WBG strategy—through programs and policies—will aim to ensure that economically and financially viable renewable energy and energy efficiency investments become an essential element in the energy choices of its member nations, not marginal considerations.
| - To ensure an institutional focus on the transition toward cleaner energy sources, the WBG will set an initial target to increase its portfolio commitments for new renewable energy (including hydropower with capacities up to 10 MW/facility) and energy efficiency by 20 percent annually over the next five years (FY05–FY09). This target will be reviewed on a regular basis. Although no target was set for larger hydropower projects, the Bank is responding to increasing demands for such support form borrower countries as exemplified by the recent approval of the Nam Theun project in Laos PDR.
| - The WBG will engage in a dialogue with nations, academic and research institutions, civil society, and industry to help frame a broader agenda on renewable energy (including policy reform and financing).
| - To foster greater collaboration across national and institutional lines, the WBG will commit to reporting its annual performance in supporting renewable and energy efficiency programs, so that it can be measured against the figures of other leading organizations.
| - As a part of its improved reporting regime, the WBG will aim to provide sector-specific information, so it can better engage a wide range of stakeholders on trends regarding specific technologies, whether hydroelectric, wind, solar, geothermal, or biomass.
| - Finally, the WBG will increase not only its staff capacity, but also the resources at the staff’s disposal and incentives within their programs, so that it can more effectively help its country and sector teams succeed in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, as well as more rapidly transfer best practices across sectors and regions.
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