REM: COP26: IKEA, Bezos and Rockefeller and multi-lateral banks pledge $10bn for green energy transition.

Three global philanthropies – the IKEA Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund and Rockefeller Foundation – and partners have pledged $10.5bn for the green energy transition and renewable energy. The pledge was made at the UN climate talks, COP26, in Glasgow.

The initiative, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), has been launched with the aim of unlocking $100bn in public and private capital to reach 1bn people with renewable energy, avoid and avert 4bn tonnes of carbon emissions, and create, enable or improve 150mn jobs, it said.

The alliance specifically called for fast-track solutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Alliance partners include eight development banks: African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Investment Bank (EIB), Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), UK's CDC Group, US International Development Finance Corporation, and the World Bank.

The three country partners are the co-hosts of COP26, Italy and the UK, and Denmark.

The news is vital because a new analysis published on November 2 by the alliance found that while energy-poor countries are currently responsible for 25% of global CO2 emissions, their share of global emissions could grow to 75% by 2050.

Yet these energy-poor nations currently only receive 13% of clean energy financing – despite representing nearly half of the world's population, said the analysis.

As much as 243 GW of coal plants are being planned, permitted or are under construction in developing countries, the report continued. If constructed, they would emit 38bn tonnes of CO2 over the coming decades, nearly the same as total global emissions in 2020. 

"The world is undergoing an economic upheaval, in which the poorest are falling farther behind and being battered by climate change's effects. Green energy transitions with renewable electrification are the only way to restart economic progress for all while at the same time stopping the climate crisis," said Dr. Rajiv Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation.

 Over the last decade, significant breakthroughs in technology have made renewable energy the cheapest option for new power in more than two-thirds of the world, noted the alliance.