The World Bank announced two new initiatives – the Carbon Initiative for Development (Ci-Dev) and the third tranche of the BioCarbon Fund (BioCF T3) – which will facilitate access to finance for low-carbon investments and enable developing countries to enter carbon markets after 2012.
6 December 2011: The World Bank announced two new initiatives to support least developed countries’ (LDCs) access to finance for low-carbon investments and enable them to tap into carbon markets after 2012, the Carbon Initiative for Development (Ci-Dev) and the third tranche of the BioCarbon Fund (BioCF T3).
The Ci-Dev, a partnership of donor and recipient countries, brings together public and private sector entities to support capacity building and carbon market development in the poorest countries of the world. The second initiative, the BioCF T3, focuses on reforestation and agriculture projects that facilitates decreased soil erosion and increased land fertility. In particular, the initiatives focus on agriculture directly and improving access to energy. They will facilitate the purchase of certified emission reductions (CERs) from various projects such as household biogas systems in Nepal, cook stoves in Africa, reforestation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, soil carbon in Kenya, and municipal solid waste in Uganda.
The World Bank is trustee of 12 carbon funds and facilities capitalized at $2.7 billion. These funds and facilities support some 174 active projects are expected to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by the equivalent of an estimated 220 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. [World Bank Press Release]