Ikea Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation announced today that they will each donate $500 million to support distributed renewable energy generation projects in developing nations.
Roughly 2.8 billion people worldwide don’t have access to reliable power, according to the United Nations, but the two philanthropies estimate these funds will bring energy to a billion of them over the next decade. Further, since the partnership will target communities that might otherwise rely on fossil fuels for power generation either now or in the future, they expect that the combined gift will reduce carbon emissions by a billion metric tons.
“Really nothing has ever been attempted even close to this kind of scale when it comes to bringing renewable energy to the world’s poor,” said Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation. The two foundations said their money will be used to “de-risk” the kind of projects private capital has tended to shy away from and will be shared through a new third public charity. This, Shah said, will help increase their leverage through private corporations and international development agencies.
Ikea Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation Historic $1 Billion Initiative to stimulate Investments in Distributed Renewable Energy
“Millions of lives and trillions of dollars have been lost to Covid 19, forcing people back into poverty after decades of progress. The effects of the climate crisis will make this even worse, which is why we must invest now to reverse this downward spiral,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation.
“We need to be honest and recognize that the current approach is not delivering the impact the world needs in the time that we have,” said Per Heggenes, chief executive officer of the Ikea Foundation. “This is all about acceleration.”
“Big, bold, and pioneering collaboration and investment is required not only for the short term, but also the long term, to galvanize a better future. That is why we are announcing our largest commitment to date and joining forces with IKEA Foundation to double that investment. Our partnership will unlock the financing and resources that are essential to provide clean, reliable electricity that improves the lives and livelihoods of people everywhere.” he added
