Deadline: 2-Jul-21
The British High Commission together with the NBI and GreenCape launch Climate Finance Accelerator in South Africa to implement its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by bringing together stakeholders that can develop and finance climate projects at scale.
The CFA is a global technical assistance programme, funded by the UK Government’s International Climate Finance. It directly responds to the urgency and scale of the climate crisis by supporting highly promising climate projects to become more bankable and appealing to investors, so that they can secure funding more readily. The CFA approach addresses the fact that there is money available for climate finance, but it is often difficult for it to flow to the places where it is needed.
The Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) is a practical and deal-oriented programme that supports climate projects to improve their bankability and appeal to financiers. Preparing projects that are attractive to investors is challenging. Low carbon projects are often perceived as higher risk as new technologies and business models are not widely understood. Regulatory and policy barriers can also create blockages in accessing capital at scale. The Climate Finance Accelerator offers a range of support to assist climate mitigation projects in accessing finance. By engaging with the CFA programme, project developers can benefit from:
- Access to investors. The CFA provides project developers greater opportunities to access finance by working directly with potential investors to understand their needs and develop their projects accordingly. Through the CFA’s reach, project proponents have the opportunity to reach commercial and concessional investors, operating both nationally and internationally.
- Coaching and best practice insights. The CFA provides access to expert insight and coaching. Through knowledge sharing sessions on what matters to financiers when taking the decision to invest, project developers will gain valuable insights and develop capabilities in making projects attractive and investment ready. For example, the CFA will advise on the development of key materials such as term sheets for investors and marketing presentations. Exchanges of best practices with other CFA countries (Turkey, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Nigeria) will also be enabled.
- Networking opportunities. Project developers will have the opportunity to expand their network with investors and other key stakeholders in the climate finance landscape. These include government representatives at national and local level, national and international development banks & agencies, and a cohort of projects facing similar challenges. The network will provide project developers with long-lasting benefits to current and future low carbon opportunities.
- Increased visibility. Participation in the CFA and CFA events can raise the profile of a project amongst a range of stakeholders from regional and national policy makers, through to a range of stakeholders from local and international finance providers.
- Achieving low carbon project objectives. The CFA supports projects to realise and communicate their positive impacts. The CFA has access to climate, sectoral and social impact specialists and can assist projects to support local and national climate ambitions, as well as helping to unlock co-benefits such as poverty reduction, improved gender equality and social inclusion, and tackling biodiversity loss.
Type of Projects
The CFA supports low carbon projects that are seeking finance. Candidate projects should:
- Be designed to achieve measurable climate outcomes in terms of direct or facilitated greenhouse gas emission reductions.
- Have a minimum total financing need of US$10M. Smaller projects may be considered in certain circumstances. Funds or similar structures consisting of multiple smaller projects are also welcomed.
- Be (at least) at the pre-feasibility stage of development.
- Have a business model that will generate commercially viable returns in the long-term (although some element of concessional financing may be required initially).
- They strongly encourage projects that can demonstrate positive social impacts and how they contribute to furthering gender equality and social inclusion
Benefits
By engaging with the CFA programme, project developers can benefit from:
- Access to investors
- Coaching and best practice insights
- Networking opportunities
- Increased visibility
- Achieving low carbon project objectives
Eligibility Criteria
- A call for proposals is now open for low carbon projects seeking finance. Developers with low-carbon projects looking for funding are invited to apply to take part in the CFA South Africa.
For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-high-commission-nbi-and-greencape-launch-cfa