Financing sustainable energy access in African NDCs

Africa faces an urgent challenge: 571 million people currently lack energy access on the continent. While the number of people with access to electricity has increased steadily in the past years, this trend is overshadowed by a rapidly growing population with improving living standards. Part of this rapidly increasing energy demand is being met by expanding renewables, whose deployment costs have been falling substantially over the last decade. This study presents the results of a long-term practical engagement of the Climate Finance Innovators (CFI) project on how deeper and broader linkages between carbon markets and climate finance can accelerate climate action in Africa. A key objective was to identify new funding sources for programmatic activities with high sustainable development impacts that were initiated under the CDM but whose business case had been eroded by the decline in carbon prices. At the same time, the aim was to generate lessons learned about how the comprehensive carbon market toolbox such as baseline and monitoring methodologies could strengthen new climate finance instruments. The CFI project focuses on engagement with three partner countries, Ethiopia, Senegal and Uganda, which stand out regarding their ambition, regional lighthouse effect and relevance in the climate negotiations.