IDB announces new Energy Partnership

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has issued a statement announcing a new partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation (RF) that will provide a financing facility committed specifically to broadening energy access, facilitating energy transition, and protecting the climate in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The announcement comes on the heels of a meeting between IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone and RF President Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, in which the two execs discussed opportunities for partnership, especially towards projects that can help speed up  post-pandemic recovery and green energy transition in the region.

President Claver-Carone was first to make the IDB’s decision public following a meeting between U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and multilateral development banks (MDBs) on how MDB’s can take innovative steps to address climate action.

The funding facility, which will be officially inaugurated at COP26, will be under the management of the IDB Group and will provide the needed financing to both public and private sector projects. The goal is to facilitate over US$600 million in new investment for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The partnership will also prioritize job creation and gender equality. The partners have also outlined clear markers which will ensure that women are put first as the primary beneficiaries of the facility.

The collaboration is testament to the remarkable similarity between the missions and values that drive both the IDB Group and RF.

“Accelerating sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean requires collaboration and we are committed to aggressively working in new ways, with new partners, to reach our sustainability and growth goals,” said IDB President Claver-Carone.