An estimated $41 billion is required each year to supply electric power to all homes worldwide, but in 2018 only roughly a third of that, $16 billion, was committed for this purpose in 20 key developing countries, an annual tracking report said.
Donor governments and development banks provided just under half of financing for electrification, with the rest coming from private investors. For cooking, public money accounted for 60%.World’s poor women, children bear a brunt as governments fail to provide clean energy for all As we deal with the ongoing challenges of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, and the ever-growing effects of climate change, the need for modern, sustainable energy access has never been more importantToday, an estimated 789 million people still live without affordable, reliable electricity sources, mainly in Africa and Asia, while about 2.8 billion use dirty cooking methods.
A move back to dirty energy in the push to boost economies slammed by the coronavirus pandemic is a risk, the report noted. Renat Heuberger, the chief executive of sustainability company South Pole – which produced a complementary report showing delays in paying out nearly 60% of funds committed for energy access from 2002-2018 – said financing models were not well suited to realities on the ground.