The Philippines will join India, Indonesia, and South Africa as the first recipients of a multibillion dollar pilot program aimed at accelerating their transition from coal power to clean energy, the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) said on Thursday.
The four countries account for 15% of global emissions related to coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. Cutting their emissions more quickly will help the global effort for net zero carbon emissions by 2050, a key goal of the ongoing United Nations COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
Indonesian Energy Minister Arifin Tasrif said his country was committed to reducing and replacing its coal power plants with renewables in energy transition.
"Climate change is a global challenge that needs to be addressed by all parties through leading by example," he said in a statement.
READ: Climate Reality Check: Global CO2 Emissions are Near Record Levels
The CIF said the Accelerating Coal Transition program was the first to target developing countries that lack adequate resources to finance the shift away from coal, a move considered vital to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030.
South Africa said on Tuesday it would be the first beneficiary.
The new program has been endorsed by the Group of Seven advanced economies and is supported by financial pledges from the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, and Denmark, the CIF said.
Denmark said it would donate 100 million Danish crowns ($15.5 million) to the program's "efforts to purchase and decommission coal power plants and invest in new energy sources".
"We must have sustainable plans for decommissioning coal power plants. For example, we need to ensure alternative employment for the local population, including retraining programs," said Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod.
Coal combustion, the biggest single source of global temperature increase, faces competitive challenges from renewable energy sources, with the number of uncompetitive coal plants expected to grow by over two-thirds globally by 2025.
"Coal is a high-emitting power source at odds with a climate-smart future," said Mafalda Duarte, chief executive of the CIF, which was created by the world's biggest economies in 2008 to help poorer countries accelerate their shift to a low-carbon economy.
"Markets are starting to trend in the right direction, but the transition is not happening fast enough to respond to the urgency of the climate crisis," Duarte said.
It will invest in projects ranging from bolstering countries' domestic capacity to manage energy transitions to repurposing or decommissioning coal assets, and creating economic opportunities for coal-dependent communities.
The project will work with six multilateral development banks to offer coal-transitioning countries a comprehensive financial toolkit that includes low-income loans and technical assistance.
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