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The UK government
will launch two new public-private partnership funds to promote
generation of renewable energy in Africa and Asia next year, the
secretary of state for international development said on Thursday.

The funds will target low-carbon energy and related investments in Asia, and large-scale renewable energy projects in Africa.

“We hope to launch these partnerships next year,” Andrew Mitchell said at a briefing in London.

A spokesman for the
UK’s department for international development said it was looking at
ways the funds could be financed, and could not put a value on them yet
or identify the potential private sector partners.

Early modelling of
the Asian fund suggests that it could bring 9 pounds of private sector
investment for every pound committed by the government.

Over the next 25
years, the project could generate up to 5 gigawatts of renewable energy
and avoid 150 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The African fund
could generate up to 500 megawatts of new renewable energy per year
from 2015, providing enough electricity for over four million
households.

The government will
also launch a new advocacy fund to help the poorest nations get heard
in international climate change and trade negotiations.

“This fund will
provide access to legal, technical, and logistical support to the
poorest and most vulnerable countries (…) whose full participation is
essential if we are to achieve an equitable deal,” Mr. Mitchell said,
referring to a global agreement on climate change.

Finance

In its spending
review in October, Britain said it would provide 2.9 billion pounds of
international climate finance to 2015. This will partly fund a 1.5
billion pound pledge of fast-start finance from 2010 to 2012.

At last year’s
Copenhagen climate summit, rich countries pledged $30 billion of “fast
start finance” to help poorer countries adapt to climate change and
reduce their greenhouse gas emissions during 2010-2012.

Although European
governments have fulfilled a promise to deliver 2.2 billion euros to
help developing countries tackle climate change, critics have said the
money might have come from rebranding existing aid pledges.

“We promised to
report openly on our fast-start commitments. The UK aid transparency
guarantee was testament to our commitment to be open and transparent
and we are abiding by that promise,” Mr. Mitchell said in response to
such criticism.

“(Our climate
finance pledge) gives us the credibility to press other donors to meet
their commitments and press for an agreement on new and innovative
sources of climate finance,” he added.

Climate finance has
been a contentious issue since the Copenhagen Accord last year.
Developing countries say funds to help them are not enough, while
developed countries struggle to allocate aid in the wake of an economic
downturn.

A U.N. summit in
Cancun, Mexico, from November29-December10, will be trying to find ways
to leverage finance and stimulate investment in low-carbon technologies.