electricity access sector. Although funding for the 25 largest clean cooking companies increased 68 percent in 2019, to $70 million, it is still well below the required amount. In 2020, several new large-scale funding initiatives were announced for clean cooking in Africa, where the clean cooking deficit remains the largest. A significant objective of the development-energy agenda is to use public resources in a way that encourages private sector investment, allowing grant-based models to be reduced over time. These techniques include the development of policies and regulations to promote market demand and blended finance mechanisms intended to reduce the risk profile of investments. There are no SDG targets for leveraging private investment towards access, but recent efforts at the High-Level Dialogue on Energy have encouraged steps towards greater ambition for 2030 and 2050. Although engaging private sector investment is a dominant objective, it also comes with certain risks, such as withdrawal of service, loss of social responsibility and monopolization.
2.3 THE URGENCY OF CLIMATE CHANGE MAKES ENERGY INITIATIVES CENTRAL TO INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS AND ECONOMIC PLANNING Energy is one major part of the whole-of-society response required to address climate change. The breadth of the challenge necessitates a cross-government response, which expands the number of possible national counterparts beyond the traditional ministry of energy to those with environmental, transport and infrastructure mandates, as well as central planning offices. The link between energy and the SDGs involves consideration by ministries with portfolios for health, food production, livelihood and employment. Many countries are currently formalizing these connections as they update their nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. Although the process is still under way, 61 percent of the nationally determined contributions prepared for the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in November 2021 included a focus on energy supply, with the adoption of renewable sources by far the most referenced measure that Parties chose to adopt.25 Although the nationally determined contributions are voluntary commitments, Parties are required to report against them. The LDCs are not required to sign binding emissions reductions under the UNFCCC. Nevertheless, the Paris Agreement encourages voluntary pledges from emerging economies and developing countries, supported by financial and technological assistance from historically high-emitting countries. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change demonstrates the necessity of curbing emissions as soon as possible,26 which creates a political and economic dilemma surrounding developing countries with national reserves of coal, oil or gas that may support energy access and development.27 Most international financial institutions (IFIs) have ruled out, or in practice are not, financing coal production. The divestment movement continued its upward trend in 2020, with more than 1,300 investors and institutions (worth nearly $15 trillion of investment) committing to partially or fully divest from fossil fuel-related assets.28
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Nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement Synthesis report by the secretariat. UNFCCC (2021) https://unfccc. int/sites/default/files/resource/cma2021_08_adv_1.pdf. IPCC, 2021: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press. SE4All (2021) Coal Power Finance In High Impact Countries. REN21, Renewables 2021: Global Status Report. 2021.
Chapter 2. GLOBAL CONTEX T: THE ENERGY ACCESS AND TRANSITION CHALLENGE
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