CDC Group plans to invest over £3 billion to combat climate emergency in Africa, Asia

CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, secures plan to invest more than £3 billion to aid rising economies in Africa and Asia battle climate change.

CDC will become one of the world’s largest climate finance investors in Africa and certain South Asian economies as a result of the pledge made today at COP26 in Glasgow. The announcement is part of the Prime Minister’s ‘Clean Green Initiative,’ which aims to assist developing nations to take advantage of green technologies and expand their economies in a sustainable way.

Over the next five years, the £3 billion in climate funding from CDC will be invested in a variety of industries, including renewable energy, infrastructure, and agriculture, including forestry. It will be used to help emerging economies reach the targets set out in the Paris Agreement, as well as to adapt to and become more robust to the effects of the climate emergency.

Over the next five years, CDC anticipates power generated from its fast-increasing portfolio of renewable power investments to double in size. As additional investments come online, the proportion of power generated by renewables throughout CDC’s overall energy portfolio will expand from 32 percent to almost 70 percent during the same time period.

In addition, the CDC will increase venture capital investment in early-stage, technology-based businesses with the potential to play critical roles in the fight against climate change.

This will be aided by the UK government’s pledge of a £200 million Climate Innovation Facility at COP26. The new fund was established to give funding for developing countries most innovative climate solutions. CDC will try to seed new markets for investment by testing – and then growing – the most effective solutions.