Bridging the Gap: Finance for Energy Access and the Green Climate Fund

This briefing paper by the Stockholm Environment Institute analyzes Green Climate Fund (GCF) funding proposals from 2015 to July 2018 to evaluate the extent of financial support directed toward energy access, particularly in high-impact and low-income countries.

• In 2019, approximately 840 million people, representing more than 11% of the global population, lacked electricity access. This population is geographically concentrated, with roughly 80% residing in 27 "high-impact" countries located primarily in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) defines energy access interventions as those aiming to increase energy use for households, communities, or productive purposes via cooking systems, mini-grids, or off-grid systems. While these projects can offer adaptation benefits, those primarily focused on energy are evaluated under the mitigation window's "impact area" for improving sustainable energy access.
• An analysis of GCF Funding Proposals approved between 2015 and July 2018 reveals that energy access interventions received significantly less funding than energy projects that do not explicitly target the energy-poor. Additionally, GCF energy funds have largely neglected low-income countries and the 27 "high-impact" countries with the greatest need for energy access.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2020). Bridging the Gap: Finance for Energy Access and the Green Climate Fund. https://www.sei.org/publications/bridging-gap-finance-energy-access-green-climate-fund/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Bridging the Gap: Finance for Energy Access and the Green Climate Fund. 2020. https://www.sei.org/publications/bridging-gap-finance-energy-access-green-climate-fund/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Bridging the Gap: Finance for Energy Access and the Green Climate Fund |date=8 June 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/bridging-gap-finance-energy-access-green-climate-fund/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2020bridging, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Bridging the Gap: Finance for Energy Access and the Green Climate Fund}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/bridging-gap-finance-energy-access-green-climate-fund/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }