28 October 2014: A study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) assessing clean energy activities and investments in emerging markets has found that capacity additions in these markets, over the past five years, totalled 142 GW, representing faster growth than in developed countries, and equal to more than France’s existing clean energy capacity.

The study, published for the third time since 2012, was commissioned by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID), and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), under the US Government’s ‘Power Africa’ initiative.

‘Climatescope 2014′ provides an interactive tool alongside a full report and complete dataset that enable the assessment of the investment climate and policies for clean energy investments in 55 emerging economies in Africa, Asia and Latin American and the Caribbean. The study ranks the countries based on 54 indicators in four areas, namely: enabling framework; clean energy investment and climate financing; low-carbon business and clean energy value chains; and greenhouse gas (GHG) management activities.

The report finds, inter alia, that: the five most attractive countries for clean energy investment and capacity build-out are China, Brazil, South Africa, India and Chile; regarding wind and solar equipment, China is the world’s largest manufacturer and has the highest demand market; South Africa improved its ranking owing to its clean energy investments over the past two years, totaling nearly US$10 billion; and developing countries are rapidly strengthening their policy frameworks, which are key for attracting more clean energy investment.

Stressing private investments as vital for improving renewable energy provision in developing countries, Justine Greening, UK Secretary of State for International Development, noted that “Climatescope boosts the investment potential of this market by giving investors the information they need to make reliable funding decisions, thereby helping millions of people to access modern forms of energy and improve their quality of life.” [IDB Press Release] [Climatescope 2014 Report Website] [Publication: Climatescope 2014: Mapping the Global Frontiers of Clean Energy Investment]