South Asia’s ambitious plans to meet its climate targets under the Paris Agreement represent $3.4 trillion worth of investment opportunities in cities and infrastructure by 2030, according to Climate Investment Opportunities in South Asia, a new report by IFC released on Wednesday, December 29, 2017 by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, which represent 7.38 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, have enormous but untapped opportunities in climate-smart investing in sectors including renewable energy, transport, green buildings, urban water, climate-smart agriculture, and municipal solid waste. The report identifies $3.1 trillion of climate investment opportunities in India alone, along with $172 billion in Bangladesh, $42 billion in Bhutan, $2 billion in the Maldives, $46 billion in Nepal, and $18 billion in Sri Lanka.

“The only way that the South Asian countries can take advantage of these climate investment opportunities is with a strong and engaged private sector,” said IFC CEO, Philippe Le Houérou. “We also need to have a comprehensive approach to creating markets for climate business in key sectors. That means putting in place necessary policy frameworks, promoting competition, and building capacity and skills to open new markets.”

The impacts of climate change on business assets, supply chains, and business interruptions are already a major concern for South Asian companies. This concern coupled with the urgency of addressing the air pollution reinforce the need for immediate action while capitalise on the existing investment potential.

The South Asia region has seen a surge in investment in clean energy and energy efficiency in recent years, contributing to significant development gains. IFC’s report highlighted two sectors for future growth: due to rapid urbanization, green buildings represent an investment potential totaling more than $1.5 trillion across South Asia between 2018 and 2030; and green transport infrastructure and electric vehicles create an opportunity of over $950 billion to 2030. Such investments generate further benefits by providing access to markets, enabling trade, and ensuring mobility, which in turn stimulate economic growth and private investment.

According to the report, other significant opportunities in the region include:

• India: renewable energy and electric vehicles. The impressive national target of generating 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 represents almost $448 billion in investment potential. This will be crucial given India’s aim to electrify all new vehicle sales by 2030, creating a potential investment opportunity of almost $670 billion if this goal is fully met.
• Bangladesh: climate-smart urban wastewater and agriculture. The government’s prioritisation of wastewater infrastructure projects creates a $13 billion investment opportunity and climate-smart agriculture sector could see investments of more than $9 billion.
• Bhutan: hydropower and electric transport. Developing Bhutan’s 25,000 MW of economically feasible hydropower potential will generate an investment opportunity of over $40 billion as well as substantial export revenues. The government’s ambitious electric vehicle target creates over 320 million worth of potential for investment in the sector.
• Maldives: climate-smart infrastructure. The country’s goals to climate-proof its infrastructure against rising sea levels and extreme weather events translates to an investment opportunity of at least $1.5 billion in transport-related infrastructure and $200 million in green buildings by 2030.
• Nepal: hydropower and climate-smart agriculture. Achieving Nepal’s ambition to install 12,000 MW of hydropower capacity creates an investment opportunity of $22.5 billion. The government’s policy push to make its agricultural sector more climate friendly, including through the use of efficient technologies represents an investment opportunity of $4.8 billion.
• Sri Lanka: Municipal solid waste management and climate-smart urban wastewater. Recognising the need for solid waste management Sri Lanka’s national policies create a $3.5 billion opportunity for investment in the sector. Wastewater management, identified as a key priority, opens an investment opportunity of more than $2.7 billion.

The countries in the region are taking the lead in fulfilling their Paris commitments. Scaling and replicating such progress across South Asia will require catalysing private finance and creating markets for climate business solutions through policies, financial innovations, and business models targeted at sector-specific local conditions. The report provides recommendations on how each country can further accelerate climate-smart investing, including demonstration projects to signal commercial viability and raise awareness, and promoting public private partnerships through streamlining procurement and processes.

Since 2005, IFC has invested $2.6 billion in long-term financing for climate-smart projects in South Asia and additionally mobilised almost $1 billion from other investors. The report is a follow-up to the Creating Markets in Climate Business report published earlier this month.

The Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) 53rd Council has approved a work programme of more than $500 million that puts a strong emphasis on support for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

The work programme, said to be one of the largest in the current GEF funding cycle (GEF-6), spans all GEF focal areas and regions and comprises 83 projects and one programmatic approach. Some 101 recipient countries are set to benefit from GEF support, including 38 LDCs and 28 SIDS.

The co-chairs summary of the meeting lists all the approved projects, as well as details of decisions taken to approve a new gender equality policy, a revised stakeholder engagement policy and an updated policy on ethics and conflict of interest for Council Members, Alternates and Advisers.

Closing the meeting, Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, thanked participants, noting: “We achieved the five things I hoped for.”  Stressing that “we have built sufficient trust among ourselves so that we can tackle difficult issues in the future,” she highlighted the achievement of approving “a half-billion dollar work program… new policies, and laying the foundation for others”.

The GEF Council meeting included updates from the Secretariat on plans to review the GEF’s social and environmental safeguards and fiduciary standards, and a new vision to enhance civil society engagement with the GEF. The GEF also presented the Annual Portfolio Monitoring Report, and the CEO presented a report on the status of the GEF-7 replenishment.

During the meeting, Rosina Bierbaum, Chairperson of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) presented a report, and the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) presented its Semi-Annual Evaluation Report and an update on the Sixth Overall Performance Study (OPS6).

There was also a session on the non-grant instrument (NGI), and a panel discussion on GEF’s relations with the Conventions, including Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, and Jacob Duer, Principal Coordinator of the Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

LDCF/SCCF 23rd Council

Back-to-back with the GEF Council meeting, the 23rd Meeting of the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) Council took place. In her opening remarks, Naoko Ishii highlighted recent momentum around building resilience and catalysing adaptation finance given the dire effects of recent extreme weather events around the world.

She commended the governments of Germany, Sweden, Belgium and the Wallonia region who all pledged to the LDCF for a total of over $90 million at the UN Climate Conference (COP23) in Bonn. Calling the support “one of the highlights of COP23”, Ishii also noted the news from COP23 of a new fund, supported by SCCF, to boost adaptation efforts in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries.

At the opening of the Council meeting, Switzerland announced new contributions to the LDCF and SCCF. Jane Chigiyal, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Micronesia to the United Nations, co-chaired both the GEF Council and LDCF/SCCF meetings with Ishii.

The GEF Council was preceded by a one day consultation with CSOs on November 27, 2017.

Two new videos showcasing GEF projects on the ground were also launched.

Humanitarian crises around the world will worsen in 2018, with no let-up in civil wars in Africa, near-famines in war-torn regions and the threat of extremist Islamist violence.

A Geneva-based think-tank,  ACAPS, made the prediction in a report published on Thursday, November 30, 2017.

ACAPS, a non-profit venture that supports humanitarian aid workers with daily monitoring and analysis of 150 countries, examined the anticipated needs of 18 countries in 2018 and found little to cheer.

“If 2017 did not look good, predictions for 2018 are no better: violence and insecurity are likely to deteriorate in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Ethiopia, Mali, Somalia, and Syria in 2018,” ACAPS director Lars Nissen wrote in the report.

In 2018, Ethiopia will join northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen as places at risk of famine, said the report, entitled “Humanitarian Overview: An analysis of key crises into 2018”.

Rather than bringing stability, the prospect of elections in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan and Venezuela is expected to exacerbate tensions and fuel violence.

Islamic extremism will also continue to cause death and conflict, the report said.

Inspite of the defeat of Islamic State in its main strongholds in Iraq, the group is expected to continue improvised attacks throughout the country to destabilise the government, as well as gaining strength and resources in southern Libya.

Islamic State is also likely to increase its small position in the Puntland region of Somalia, impacting the civilian population and clashing with its bigger regional rival Al-Shabaab, which will increase the lethality of its own attacks.

Islamist armed groups are also expected to take advantage of the withdrawal of government troops from central Mali, gaining local recruits and further influence, while in Afghanistan the Taliban will consolidate their rural strongholds and increased opium production will boost funding for armed groups.

ACAPS said the fragmentation of armed groups in Central African Republic is expected to worsen the violence there, sending more refugees into Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Militia groups previously focused on local grievances will likely become increasingly frustrated by the national, political, and socioeconomic situation and are likely to increase violence, particularly against government forces and institutions,” ACAPS said.