4 February 2010: The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) held meetings of its Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries (SREP) sub-committee on 3 February 2010, and its Forest Investment Program (FIP) sub-committee from 3-4 February 2010, in Washington DC, US.
On the eve of the meetings, the World Bank announced that the Government of Japan had pledged US$100 million to the two programs, enabling the launch of their operational phase. Japan’s pledge raises the total contributions to SREP and FIP to US$300 million and US$400 million respectively.
The two programs are funded under the Strategic Climate Fund, one of two funds established as part of the US$6 billion multi-stakeholder CIF. Both the SREP and FIP offer an opportunity to low-income countries to undertake pilot programmes. The FIP supports efforts related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) by financing investments to address the causes of deforestation and forest degradation. The SREP will help a small number of low-income countries initiate energy sector transformation by helping them take renewable energy solutions to a national programmatic level.
The CIF are implemented jointly by the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and the World Bank. [Climate Investment Funds Website] [World Bank Press Release]