client
PNUE/UNEP RISOE Center (PRC) United Nations Program for the Environment
project description
The global carbon market is booming, presenting tremendous new opportunities for banks and their clients to enhance their profit margins and shareholder value. In 2006, the market doubled to an estimated value of USD 22 Billion. As pressure mounts to act against climate change, analysts predict that the carbon market will go from strength to strength in the years to come. Africa is just beginning to tap into this market.
The African Bankers’ Carbon Finance Investment Forum organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE), the UNEP Risoe Centre, and the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), sought to remedy the gap, in supporting the African financial community to better integrate into the global carbon market. The event is co-sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation and the GTZ Climate Protection Program, the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, the United Nations Foundation, BNP Paribas, the World Bank Carbon Finance Assist Program, and the World Bank Community Development Carbon Fund.
The event included the following:
- An executive roundtable for Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), and members of banking credit committees to share insights and showcase best practices regarding integration of carbon finance into mainstream lending and investment decision-making.
- Targeted training and clinics for Credit Officers and other financial stakeholders on carbon credit asset creation and due diligence, including the launch of UNEP Risoe’s new Guidebook to Financing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Projects.
- A deal-making platform providing African CDM developers an opportunity to secure underlying finance for their bankable projects, and to improve the design of their projects with a greater awareness of the interests and lending criteria of major regional banks.
highlights
Econoler International was mandated to assist UNEP DTIE and the UNEP Risoe to organize the workshop based on its international expertise in CDM project development.
Econoler International was specifically, in charge of:
- Identifying and mobilizing the participation of project developers from Anglophone Sub-Saharan African Countries, most notably Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.
- Facilitating presentation skills training and CDM proposal review clinic for project developers.
- Giving a presentation on Econoler’s experience with financing CDM projects.
Through the one-week workshop and assistance, 125 persons from various financial institutions and projects developers as well as NGOs were trained on carbon finance investment opportunities in Africa. A roster of 35 projects has been developed.