31 January 2015: As preparations begin for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3) to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July 2015, the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative is highlighting that, while it will not be easy, it is possible to fund a transition to sustainable energy access for all. SE4ALL representatives were in New York, US, where the FfD process began 27-29 January 2015, presenting both opportunities and challenges for sustainable energy financing.

Noting the likelihood of a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on energy, SE4ALL Senior Advisor Elizabeth Thompson emphasized the added importance this gives to financing the initiative. The question, she elaborated, is how. SE4ALL presented its solutions to this question, accompanied by slides, a flyer and its finance committee draft report, underlining that it is possible to finance universal access to sustainable energy.

Richard MacGeorge, Lead Infrastructure Finance Specialist, World Bank; Abyd Kamali, Managing Director, Climate Finance, Bank of America; and Mohinder Gulati, Chief Operating Officer, SE4ALL, sat on a panel that detailed the solutions identified. The panelists have all contributed to the work of the SE4ALL Advisory Board’s Committee on Mobilizing Finance and Investments.

Among their suggestions were: deploying de-risking tools and improving regulatory predictability to create enabling environments and less risky investment opportunities; increasing the use of guarantees and insurance products by development finance institutions (DFIs); and taking advantage of the potential of Green Bonds.

SE4ALL plans to take the topic up in further depth at its second annual UN SE4ALL Forum, which will be held 17-21 May 2015 under the theme ‘Financing Sustainable Energy for All.’ [SE4ALL Press Release] [SE4ALL Presentations Video Recording] [SE4ALL Flyer on Financing Sustainable Energy for All] [SE4ALL Presentation Slides] [SE4ALL Finance Committee Draft Report] [IISD RS Story on SE4ALL and Energy SDG]