World Bank unveils new plan for energy investments

The World Bank has given a new direction to its energy sector investments with a focus on expanding energy access and sustainable energy.

In its new Energy Sector Directions Paper unveiled July 16, 2013, the World Bank says the plan is anchored in the Group’s overarching goals of ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity sustainably.

The plan, according to the Washington-based multilateral body, also aligned with the Sustainable Energy for All initiative’s goals for 2030 to achieve universal access to modern energy, double the global rate of energy efficiency improvement, and double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

The paper states that the World Bank Group will make every effort to “minimize the financial and environmental costs of expanding reliable energy supply” while also recognizing that “each country determines its own path for achieving its energy aspirations.”

The paper further laid emphasis on the importance of selecting areas in which the Bank Group can best help countries mobilize energy solutions that reduce poverty sustainably.

World Bank President Dr Jim Yong Kim said the paper’s directions are anchored in the World Bank Group’s overarching goals of reducing the global rate of extreme poverty to 3% by 2030 and fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% in every country.

“We need affordable energy to help end poverty and to build shared prosperity, Dr Kim said.

The World Bank Boss promised that it will scale up efforts to improve energy efficiency and increase renewable energy—according to countries’ needs and opportunities.

By Ekow Quandzie