CIF earmarks $1bln for clean power move in SAfrica, Indonesia

CIF earmarks $1bln for clean power move in SAfrica, Indonesia

LONDON - Climate Investment Funds, a leading multilateral investor in developing countries, said it will allocate $1 billion to help South Africa and Indonesia move away from coal to clean power.

The move comes ahead of the next round of global climate talks in Egypt in November, at which emerging markets are set to once again push for more financial help from richer countries to help them make the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Getting countries to give up cheap coal energy in favour of greener alternatives is a key aim of the talks, yet who pays for it has proved harder to nail down, particularly in developing countries.

Under the agreement, South Africa and Indonesia will be able to access $500 million each in cheaper, risk-bearing capital from CIF's Accelerating Coal Transition (CIF ACT) investment programme, CIF said.

The hope is that the two countries can then attract more money from multilateral lenders such as the World Bank as well as private sector investors to help fund their climate plans.

With the CIF investment, South Africa would be able to retire several coal-fired power stations and replace them with renewable energy and energy storage systems, whilst helping local communities with resources, including jobs.

The CIF