International

Opportunity

Europe has already started to learn what is needed to scale up clean energy with co-benefits like clean air and water. Accelerating this experience around the world can help countries make cheaper and more efficient choices in favour of clean and healthy energy. Europe can also help directly, as its financial sectors are a major source of capital for the world and could be backing cleaner choices. As a foundation we have learned how to support civil society to engage on energy issues in the interests of clean air and a healthy climate.

Challenge

Europe has huge potential to play a positive role in the world as a source of money, technical experience and capacity to bring about positive change.

For example Europe has taken variable renewables such as solar and wind and integrated them affordably in electricity grids. This has provided a great deal of technical learning. Other countries could integrate clean energy more quickly and at a lower cost if they can learn from Europe. Moreover, identifying modes of learning also based on initiatives in other parts of the world bears considerable potential. For example we can team up the Agora Energiewende initiative that looks at accelerating clean energy in Germany with partners in Turkey or with the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation.

European private finance is a major force around the world. It could be backing clean energy expansion, or dirty energy and thus increasing the risks of high-carbon asset stranding in the future. Work like that of Carbon Tracker helps the financial sector understand the implications of these choices and this is insight that can be taken to other financial centres.

In many parts of the world we can support local leadership through the development of skills and capacities in civil society so that public-interest organisations can contribute to debates about energy choices in their own countries. For example groundwork in South Africa is engaged on the health implications for communities of energy choices.

Approach

Drawing from the European Climate Foundation’s direct experience of grant-making on energy efficiency, clean energy and transport, our approach is to support technical assistance and capacity with specialist expertise on engaging clean energy choices. This is specialism such as technical knowledge on grid-integration, financing and civil society expertise on energy issues.