U.N. finds developing countries need major financial commitment for cleaner energy
by Daniel J. Graeber
Washington DC (UPI) Jul 5, 2023

Much of the global investments in clean energy are concentrated in developed countries, where cash flows have tripled in less than a decade, but it's the developing countries that need the most support, the United Nations said Wednesday.

The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said Wednesday that developing nations are far behind what's needed for a comprehensive energy transition. Those nations need about $1.7 trillion to keep up, but have so far attracted only $544 billion.

"A significant increase in investment in sustainable energy systems in developing countries is crucial for the world to reach climate goals by 2030," UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan said.

The lack of investments for developing economies has been something of a running theme. The U.N.-backed International Renewable Energy Agency said early this year that it's the advanced economies such as China, the European Union and the United States that accounted for about 60% of total growth in alternative energy last year.

The International Energy Agency in Paris, meanwhile, said that progress is lopsided and the global economy needs to do more to find alternatives and more variety to avoid an over-dependent relationship, such as the pre-war energy ties between Russia and the European Union.

UNCTAD added that the crises from global inflation and the war in Ukraine were in part behind the lack of support. But some help may be coming.

U.S. President Joe Biden in 2021 pledged to work with Congress to quadruple U.S. climate support for developing countries to more than $11 billion a year by 2024. In April, the president announced $1 billion in U.S. government aid went to a fund designed to help developing nations implement stronger climate infrastructure.

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