In March 2021, United for Efficiency (U4E) was pleased to partner with OLADE (Latin American Energy Organisation) on a series of three webinars – Introduction to Market Transformation Projects through UNEP’s U4E Policy Approach, Funding Programme Opportunities for Climate Change Projects, and Examples of Financial Mechanisms at National/Regional Projects – on climate financing. These webinars were conducted through the “Knowledge Community – CAPEVLAC” of OLADE, whose main objective is to strengthen the technical capacities at the public and private levels in the region, through high-quality modular training.

With the objective of providing advice on unlocking climate financing for the implementation of projects to help countries meet their NDC objectives and commitments regarding climate change, the webinars were primarily aimed at country policymakers, national officials and technical staff involved with climate, energy, water, waste or buildings project development, financing and management. However, the content is also relevant to those in the private sector, academia or other areas interested in climate/energy finance market transformation frameworks and green/sustainable policy and procurement issues, solutions and practices in general. More than 120 attendees from the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region registered for these webinars.

The first webinar described how countries in the LAC region can achieve their environmental commitments through an integrated policy approach to market transformation and provided details of the tools and resources available from U4E to support this process.

The second webinar discussed the funding programme opportunities that are available for climate change projects. This included details of the specific characteristics and opportunities under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and its Readiness fast track programme, along with information on the process and details required to develop GCF national and regional projects. The project requirements and funding available from other climate financing programmes such as the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Programme (K-CEP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the NAMA Facility were also discussed.  This was supported with examples from the actual proposal preparation and submission process undertaken for a successful GCF Readiness project covering Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador and Honduras.

The final webinar described U4E experiences with financial mechanisms for energy efficient market transformation projects drawing examples from the K-CEP funded Caribbean Cooling Initiative which includes the “Cooling as a Service” mechanism, the GEF-funded national lighting project in Pakistan showcasing the Revolving Loan and Guarantee Fund mechanism, among other project examples in the LAC region from U4E partners. Details of different financing models, such as Energy Savings Insurance or Efficiency as a Service managed by BASE where also presented.

Recordings and copies of the presentations from the webinars are available on U4E’s website.

For more information about webinars and training courses related to the energy sector, please register at the “Knowledge Community – CAPEVLAC”