Today at COP27, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) announced a strategic investment partnership mobilizing up to USD1 billion for the financing of green energy transition and renewable energy projects, in both the public and private sectors.
The partnership sees AIIB and GEAPP cooperating through a shared vision to address the energy transition challenges in Asia and beyond, through the identification of co-financing opportunities for projects and programs of common interest in grid-based renewables, distributed renewables, and energy transitioning areas. It follows extensive cooperation between AIIB and GEAPP over the past year and is the first time AIIB has partnered with a global philanthropic foundations-led initiative.
Building on AIIB’s track record of accelerating investment in Sustainable Infrastructure for Tomorrow, the partnership will enhance assistance in areas such as co-financing operations and private capital mobilization. Capital will be directed to those countries that are both eligible for AIIB’s financing activities and meet its strategies and policies, while also being areas of GEAPP activity in alignment with and furtherance of GEAPP’s charitable objectives.
AIIB President Jin Liqun remarked upon the significance of the partnership and strengthened collaborative ties with GEAPP: “Despite challenges last year, AIIB achieved a 48% climate finance share of total approvals in 2021. Through our timely collaboration, AIIB will continue striving to find new ways to provide our growing community of Members with access to additional capital and resources. We highly anticipate a fruitful collaboration with GEAPP and look forward to paving the way toward the greater, greener good.”
An exchange of Letters of Intent was completed at a signing ceremony in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. AIIB Vice President for Policy and Strategy, Sir Danny Alexander, and GEAPP’s CEO, Simon Harford, signed the documentation and were joined by Jin Liqun, President of AIIB; Dr. Rajiv Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation; Per Heggenes, CEO of IKEA Foundation; and Dr. Andrew Steer, President and CEO of Bezos Earth Fund.
Simon Harford, CEO of GEAPP stated: “Last year, clean energy generation grew by 522 TWh, about a quarter of what is needed to end energy poverty. However, most of this generation occurred in developed countries.
“As a global MDB, AIIB has the capital, convening power and commitment to invest in innovative, clean energy projects across developing countries, which makes the Bank an ideal partner to join GEAPP. Together we will deliver transformational projects that accelerate and scale the energy transition for communities in Asia and beyond.”
Alexander commented: “Our participation in GEAPP marks yet another step forward in our Bank’s growth, in unlocking new resources through co-financing measures, to meet our ambitious climate targets while helping support better socioeconomic outcomes where populations are most vulnerable to climate change. Our joint work will be focused on project collaboration, and AIIB is delighted to join the global alliance of GEAPP as an investment partner in financing a greener, more sustainable future.”
About AIIB
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank whose mission is financing the Infrastructure for Tomorrow—infrastructure with sustainability at its core. We began operations in Beijing in January 2016 and have since grown to 105 approved members worldwide. We are capitalized at USD100 billion and Triple-A-rated by the major international credit rating agencies. Collaborating with partners, AIIB meets clients’ needs by unlocking new capital and investing in infrastructure that is green, technology-enabled and promotes regional connectivity.
About GEAPP
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) is an alliance of philanthropy, entrepreneurs, governments in emerging and developed economies, and technology, policy, and financing partners. Our common mission is to support developing countries’ shift to a clean energy, pro-growth model that ensures universal energy access and unlocks a new era of inclusive economic growth, while enabling the global community to meet critical climate goals during the next decade. In doing so, as an Alliance we aim to enable 150 million sustainable livelihoods, reduce 4 gigatons of future carbon emissions, and expand clean energy access to one billion people. With philanthropic partners IKEA Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, GEAPP works to build the enabling environment, capacity, and market conditions for private sector solutions, catalyze new business models through innovation and entrepreneurship, and deploy high-risk capital to encourage private sector solutions, and assist just transition solutions.
