On the sidelines of COP28, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, the United. Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), an innovative carbon finance platform aimed at catalyzing private capital to support ambitious and just energy transition strategies in developing and emerging economies, has been presented by the Department of State, Bezos Earth Fund, and The Rockefeller Foundation. ETA is a collaboration between the Department of State, The Bezos Earth Fund, and The Rockefeller Foundation.. The Governments of Chile, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, and the Philippines expressed an interest in participating in the ETA as part of the announcement. In the near future, Amazon, Bank of America, Boston Consulting Group, Mastercard, McDonald's, Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, Salesforce, Schneider Electric, Standard Chartered Bank, Trane Technologies, and Walmart have expressed interest in continuing to engage with the ETA partners as the initiative gets closer to its formal launch.
In the near future, Amazon, Bank of America, Boston Consulting Group, Mastercard, McDonald's, Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, Salesforce, Schneider Electric, Standard Chartered Bank, Trane Technologies, and Walmart have expressed interest in continuing to engage with the ETA partners as the initiative gets closer to its formal launch.
By the early 2030s, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that clean energy investments in developing and emerging economies, excluding China, will increase sevenfold to $1.9 trillion a year, in order to keep a 1.5°C limit on global warming within reach.
According to the International Energy Agency, clean energy investments in developing and emerging economies excluding China will need to increase seven-fold by the early 2030s in order to maintain a 1.5°C limit on global warming by the middle of the century.
At today's announcement at the US Center at COP28, the three ETA partners announced several major advancements since their partnership was formed at COP27 one year ago, as well as their intention to formally establish the ETA as an independent initiative by Earth Day 2024.
The ETA will bring together governments and private sector stakeholders using high-integrity carbon crediting to deliver faster, deeper greenhouse gas reductions and improve the lives of vulnerable people by accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to clean power in developing and emerging economies through the use of carbon crediting. According to preliminary estimates, the ETA could mobilize anywhere from $72 billion to $207 billion in transition financing by 2035.
Following a year of extensive consultations with government, business, and civil society stakeholders, the partners have released the framework for the ETA, which is intended to serve as the foundation for the creation of the ETA coalition over the next year.. The framework describes the Coalition and its objectives and provides an overview of key elements of the ETA: its approach to carbon crediting, including the development of an independent sectoral-scale crediting standard for emissions reductions from electricity generation; criteria for participating companies and information on how they would use ETA carbon credits to help meet their voluntary climate commitments; just transition provisions to address worker and community needs; plans to dedicate a portion of the finance generated to address adaptation and resilience in vulnerable countries; and options for innovative financial structures to mobilize investment into energy transition strategies
The framework describes the Coalition and its objectives and provides an overview of key elements of the ETA: its approach to carbon crediting, including the development of an independent sectoral-scale crediting standard for emissions reductions from electricity generation; criteria for participating companies and information on how they would use ETA carbon credits to help meet their voluntary climate commitments; just transition provisions to address worker and community needs; plans to dedicate a portion of the finance generated to address adaptation and resilience in vulnerable countries; and options for innovative financial structures to mobilize investment into energy transition strategies
A number of countries and leading companies also joined the partners, expressing an interest in continuing the development of the groundbreaking initiative in partnership with the ETA partners. It has been announced that Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Nigeria will be joining the ETA as pilot countries soon.
A letter of interest signed by ten of the world's leading companies welcomed the ETA initiative as an opportunity to support large-scale power sector transformation while accelerating progress towards their ambitious climate goals: Amazon, Bank of America, Boston Consulting Group, Mastercard, McDonald's, Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, Salesforce, Schneider Electric, and Standard Chartered Bank.
As a Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, said, "I am absolutely convinced that we will be able to meet our climate goals in time to avoid the worst consequences of the crisis." "We all know what the challenges are and that no government alone will be able to solve them." In order to transition off of dirty power and accelerate the transition to a clean energy future, we must all work together to come up with innovative solutions that will catalyze the funding at the scale and speed that is necessary."
Dr. Andrew Steer, the President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, said, "We know how to solve the climate crisis. Now we need innovative ways to finance it." "The Energy Transition Accelerator provides a market-based solution that will lead to billions of dollars in clean energy investments." In order for countries and companies to join us, we will apply high-integrity methodologies and just transition safeguards which focus on the environment and society."
The climate crisis can become a vehicle for human progress if we invest correctly in its response. "With the Energy Transition Accelerator's framework, we begin to answer the essential question of how we can assist emerging economies to achieve their climate goals while simultaneously creating economic opportunities for vulnerable people in developing economies," said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation.
Meanwhile, Winrock International released draft elements of the sectoral-scale carbon crediting standards that it is developing to be used by the ETA, as part of the broader ETA Framework, as part of the work it is undertaking.
The ETA announced in September that a strategic partnership would be formed between the World Bank and the Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions (SCALE) partnership. The goal of the partnership is to mobilize finance for effective energy transitions that will catalyze climate change. As a result of a pool of payments committed by both the public and private sectors, developing countries will be directly rewarded for verified reductions of emissions.
The Bank is partnering with the Energy Transition Accelerator at the global level to remove the most critical impediments to the expansion of the carbon market, through initiatives like Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions, as well as helping countries establish the necessary infrastructure to connect to a global market, by setting standards and helping them access more affordable finance." Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, who joined the ETA partners on stage from COP28, said.
With the sectoral-scale crediting approach pioneered by the ETA, participating countries will be encouraged to intensify their near-term activities towards decarbonization of the power sector, which will include the deployment and use of clean power, the retirement of fossil fuel assets, enhancing storage capacity, transmission, and distribution, as well as any necessary changes in policy.
As part of the ETA project, a High-Level Consultative Group comprised of over 30 experts, representatives from government, the private sector and civil society across the globe provided extensive input to the partners. As part of their design effort, they have been supported by a number of organizations, including the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). 

Source prnewswire