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Eric Usher
Eric Usher
Topic: Sustainable Energy Finance; Needs, Approaches and Current Trends
Within UNEP’s Paris-based Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, Eric Usher is responsible for renewable energy and sustainable energy finance programme activities. This work focuses on new a...
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Number of questions: [5]
Posted on 17/05/2007 10:43:59
Dear Mr Usher,

Does UNEP Energy Branch lead actions in order to promote foreign investments in renewable energy and biofuel sectors in developping countries and in particular in Africa, where Kyoto Protocol mechanisms (CDM) seem not to have lead to many foreign investments?
Sarah Martin (from France)
We don't have programmes explicitely targetting foreign investors, but some do attract some foreign investment. You're right that the CDM hasn't to date led to much foreign investment in Africa. We hope this will change, but also have to acknowledge that the reason it hasn't has more to do with broader macro issues than anything specific to the CDM. We have a large capacity development programme (www.cd4cdm.org) that has been helping many developing countries in AFrica and elsewhere put in place the institutional structures needed to receive CDM investment. The governments that have moved the fastest, for instance Morocco and South Africa, have started to secure CDM financing. But there is still a lot of work to do to see carbon finance more evenly spread across africa. We are just starting a CDM support programme on bioenergy and forestry in five African countries, supported by AFD. Hopefully these areas will eventually start to benefit from carbon financing, since they have great potential in Africa.

Posted on 17/05/2007 10:31:05
Dear Mr Usher
Sarah, Martin (from France)
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Posted on 17/05/2007 05:29:23
What strategies do you propose for educating policy-makers in your area of specialization?
Centre for Environment Education (from India)
In the area of environmental finance we've actually found an interesting feedback loop between the actions of bankers and policymakers. New environmental technologies require supportive policy frameworks. However before a technology has achieved some market scale it is always hard for a policy maker to understand the true potential of the technology. Is it just another interesting demonsration technology that will never make it far off the R&D workbench. Or is it a technology that has true potential to commercialise at a large scale and to take a big market share from a dirtier conventional technology. This is the challenge we are often dealing with in the renewable energy sector. We have found that by working with the banks, helping them to start lending for these cleaner but more capital intensive technologies, they send a strong feedback signal to policy makers. Banks are seen as fairly conservative actors, and when they start to put their money on the line for a new technology the policy maker gets the signal that the technology is mature and might need a policy framework appropriate for such maturity (which often means shifting from technology R&D support programmes to more subtle regulatory support policies such as the accelerated depreciation benefits that wind gets in india). So, my long answer to your question is that educating policy makers can sometimes happen in subtle ways, learning from the actions of others.

Posted on 17/05/2007 05:02:53
How much amount will be given by UNEP to developing countries for achieving sustainable energy
sethu raman (from India)
UNEP is not actually a funding agency, so we don't have a core budget for funding sustainable energy work in developing countries. We are often funded by governments or UN funding agencies to undertake specific programmes in countries like India. For example we're just finishing up a bank partnership programme in Karnataka for helping banks beging lending for solar lighting systems. We did bring in some resources for this work (about $1.5 million USD) but most of the funding was from the banks (Canara and Syndicate). Hope this answers you question, a little.

Posted on 17/05/2007 03:09:49
I am student of Environmental Sciences. In your view what methodology is more beneficial to give mitigation strategies for industrial pollution? Such study will focus on only pollution prevention or waste treatment or both and therotical or practical way?
kapil ingle (from India)
Of course practical approaches to pollution prevention is the most attractive answer, wherever it is possible. UNEP focuses most of its efforts on pollution prevention, since for new build it's generally cheaper and environmentally has much less impact. However there are still a lot of dirty industries out there that require waste treatment expertise and technology. Both are therefore needed, for the forseable future I fear.

    
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