The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will manage the CAD$250 million Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in the Americas to mobilize private sector investment in LAC in cleaner technology, renewable energy, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions in agriculture and forestry, as well as adaptation projects.
30 April 2012: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has been selected by the Canadian Government to manage the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in the Americas. The CAD$250 million Fund will focus on financing private sector climate mitigation and adaptation projects in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) that need concessional financing to become viable.
Private sector projects in LAC that may be supported include those involving renewable energy, energy efficiency, agriculture and forestry greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction projects, as well as adaptation protects to reduce climate change vulnerabilities. The Fund will aim to mobilize private sector investments in cleaner technologies, which tend to have higher initial costs and take longer for a return on investment than do technologies based on fossil fuels. According to IDB, the Fund’s financing over 25 years is expected to leverage some $5 billion in climate-related investments and reducing GHG emissions by up to 50 million metric tons.
The new Fund is part of Canada’s CAD$1.2 billion contribution to the collective commitment made by developed countries at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference to provide fast-start climate finance resources approaching US$30 billion for developing countries. [IDB Press Release]