Banking on renewables
The energy transition demands a huge flow of public finance away from fossil fuels, towards the expansion of clean energy systems around the world. Multilateral development banks have an important role to play, and a choice of what type and scale of projects they invest in.
The Banking on Renewables campaign calls on MDBs to:
- Power people and protect the planet
- Ditch fossil fuels and false solutions
- Bank on renewables that do no harm
- Put people’s rights before profit.
What role does public finance play in the energy transition?
Public finance providers, the multilateral development banks (MDBs), direct billions of dollars annually to shaping countries’ energy policies, initiating energy projects, and funding the private sector.
The MDBs have the opportunity – and the mandate – to ensure that all investments in renewable energy are held to the highest standards for human rights, social impacts and environmental integrity, with robust and accountable safeguards and full consultation with affected communities.
We are monitoring five MDBs against a set of criteria to assess whether they are banking on renewables that truly power people and protect the planet.
Are the MDBs banking on renewables?
The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), are based in different regions and operate in different countries, but they all have one thing in common: their duty as development banks to eliminate poverty, boost prosperity, and protect the planet.
There are actions that these MDBs can take now to show their commitment to inclusive and just energy transition, such as:
- Commit to funding 100% renewable energy projects and support countries to make ambitious, inclusive plans to transition from fossil energy to renewables.
- Give grant-based climate finance, and make it accessible for local projects as well as national.
- Make it mandatory to involve local communities in decisions about renewables projects, and ensure that even the most marginalised people will benefit, including women and youth.
Civil society groups around the world have signed on to the Banking on Renewables campaign, and are taking our demands to the MDBs.
Critical energy transition minerals
As renewable energy capacity increases, so too will the extraction and trade of minerals like nickel, lithium and bauxite, which are used in batteries and other transition technologies.
Communities on the frontlines of mineral mining are already facing displacement, pollution and environmental destruction caused by the booming minerals industry. There is a real and urgent need for less damaging, more accountable mineral supply chain practices, that respect human and Indigenous rights, and uphold environmental integrity.
We’re urging the MDBs to adopt the UN’s guiding principles for Critical Energy Transition Minerals, published in September 2024.
Browse below for news and resources related to Recourse’s campaigns for a just, inclusive transition to sustainable renewable energy for all.
