The international community
has charged the United Nations with the task of
assembling the science in order to create a process
to address climate change. The UN Foundation recognizes
the importance of international action and seeks
to identify activities that promote sustainable,
climate-friendly energy policies and practices.
We focus our climate change program on activities
that strengthen UN leadership on climate change
and energy, promote bipartisan support for climate
change action in the United States (through the
Energy
Future Coalition), leverage support for innovation,
and take advantage of strategic opportunities
to expand global action on climate change.
UN Leadership
The UN Foundation advances UN leadership by supporting
emerging climate change policies and promoting
public-private partnerships with UN agencies that
advance innovative sustainable energy programs,
particularly in developing countries. Through
grantmaking, partnership building, and advocacy,
the UN Foundation supports strategic UN activities
that expand energy access for the poor, promote
economic development, and develop catalytic partnerships
both within and outside the UN system. These activities
support national clean energy policies and regulatory
programs, promote clean energy technologies and
energy efficiency standards, design innovative
financing mechanisms, and build capacity to expand
clean energy enterprise development.
Much of the UN Foundation’s
grantmaking seeks to promote renewable energy
and energy efficiency. UNF”s renewable energy
projects have focused on demonstrating sustainable
business models to provide clean and affordable
energy to the rural poor, as small-scale renewable
energy projects are often the best way to provide
remote rural areas with modern energy services.
UNF’s energy efficiency projects have promoted
market-oriented energy conservation initiatives
with strong potential for replication.
U.S. Leadership
With the support of the UN Foundation’s
sister organization, the Better World Fund, the
Energy
Future Coalition is working to support leadership
on climate change and domestic energy policy.
The Energy Future Coalition is a broad-based,
nonpartisan alliance that seeks to bridge the
differences among business, labor, and environmental
leaders and identify energy policy options with
broad political support. The Energy Future Coalition
offers a platform for examining U.S. energy policy,
global dependence on oil, energy needs of the
world’s poor and the challenge of climate
change. It seeks to align a variety of U.S. constituencies
behind an agenda that advances technology, promotes
good science, and advocates for energy security.
Leveraging Support
for Innovation
The UN Foundation builds partnerships around innovative
programs that might not otherwise secure government
attention and support. Our investments in this
area develop models for sustainable energy development
that feature strong potential for replication
and scale-up, demonstrate the successful application
of these models, and catalyze additional investment
from the private sector, including from donor
institutions such as the World Bank and the GEF.
For example, UNF and the Shell Foundation have
invested with the UN Environment Programme in
a large-scale initiative to accelerate the market
for financing solar power in India by helping
two of India’s largest commercial banks
develop lending portfolios specifically targeted
at solar home systems. At WSSD, UNF initiated
a partnership with the e7 (the largest electric
utilities in the G7 countries), the UN Development
Programme, and American Electric Power to bring
wind power to the Galápagos — a fragile
and treasured island area. UNF and the UN Environment
Program have also invested in the Renewable Energy
Enterprise Development Initiative which helps
local entrepreneurs create clean energy enterprises
in Brazil, China and five African countries for
the rural and peri-urban poor. This successful
enterprise-centered energy development model is
now being scaled up by other large donors such
as the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility,
the Swedish International Development Agency,
the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and
Development, and the German development bank KfW.
Strategic
Opportunities
In a forward-looking approach to global challenges,
the UN Foundation seeks to identify and leverage
strategic opportunities for movement on climate
and energy issues. Building on the historic Institutional
Investor Summit on Climate Risk convened in November
2003, the UN Foundation continues efforts to catalyze
innovative approaches to climate change. The 2003
Summit brought together key pension fund managers
with $3 trillion in investments, senior Wall Street
executives, insurers, labor, environmental, and
political leaders to explore the financial risks
for countries and industries if they neglect the
threat of climate change. Chartering a new Investor
Network on Climate Risk (INCR) at the Summit,
the Network plans to develop analytic tools to
improve disclosure of financial, liability, regulatory,
and other risks related to climate change. On
May 10, 2005, the second Institutional Investor
Summit on Climate Risk will take place, following-up
and expanding on the success of the first Summit.
