Need to Scale Investments for the ones most on need
Keeping the 1.5 °C climate target within reach while achieving universal access to modern energy services requires an unprecedented scale-up of sustainable energy investments in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs), excluding China. Annual investment must increase from around USD 260 billion today to USD 1.4–1.9 trillion by 2030—a sevenfold rise.
Yet global investment patterns remain highly uneven. Between 2000 and 2020, EMDEs received only 15% of global renewable energy investment, with Africa capturing just 2%. As a result, many Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) continue to lack access to affordable, long-term finance. Approximately 60% of the required investment must come from the private sector, making it essential to address real and perceived risks and to create scalable, bankable markets. Achieving this transformation requires a coordinated response across three interconnected levels:
• Public finance must play a catalytic role by de-risking and leveraging private investment through concessional capital, guarantees, blended finance instruments, and innovative financial mechanisms;
• National governments must establish enabling policy, regulatory, and institutional frameworks that channel investment into bankable projects and domestic green industries; and
• The international community must foster a fair and inclusive financial system that prioritizes the needs of the most vulnerable countries, particularly LDCs and SIDS.
However, so far these ambitions are constrained by manifold barriers and fragmented approaches. There is need for regional and inter-regional approaches to build investor confidence, create economies of scale and accelerate progress.
Regional cooperation as accelerator for just energy transitions
So far, ambitions have been constrained by numerous barriers and fragmented approaches. Regional and inter-regional cooperation can accelerate progress by building investor confidence, creating economies of scale, and overcoming fragmentation. To support this, UNIDO with financial support of the Government of Austria has been assisting regional economic communities (RECs) in establishing and operating regional sustainable energy centres since 2010. Today, the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) comprises ten centres covering 120 countries, including 40 of 45 LDCs and 35 of 39 SIDS, spanning Africa, the Arab region, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Through regional approaches, the centres address market barriers related to policy and regulation, knowledge and skills development, quality infrastructure, and business and investment promotion. The GN-SEC platform, hosted by UNIDO, facilitates joint learning as well as south–south and triangular cooperation between centres and regions.
This session will explore how GN-SEC centres and regional cooperation more broadly can address existing barriers to investment and finance. By establishing harmonised regional policies, regulations, and standards, the centres foster economies of scale, enhance investor confidence, and reduce perceived risks associated with sustainable energy investments. They help overcome fragmentation and small market sizes by creating larger, more integrated regional markets that are attractive to investors. Additionally, the centres facilitate project bundling and aggregation, enabling the development of larger, more bankable investment pipelines, and, through partnerships with banks and other financiers, accelerate the deployment of dedicated blended finance instruments and risk mitigation facilities.