Yabei Zhang

Cities currently account for about two-thirds of the world’s annual energy consumption and about 70 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the coming decades, urbanisation and income growth in developing countries are expected to push cities’ energy consumption and GHG emissions shares even higher, particularly where the majority of people remain underserved by basic infrastructure services and where city authorities are under-resourced to shift current trajectories. These challenges are faced by many cities and millions of people in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Region, which is experiencing unprecedented rates of urbanisation, as the region’s urban population grows almost twice as fast as the world’s urban population. This book lays out a blueprint for transforming EAP cities to global engines of green growth by choosing energy efficient solutions to their infrastructure needs. It urges national and municipal governments to reform institutions, build capacity, and strengthen energy planning and governance in order to mainstream energy efficiency on a citywide scale and introduce low-carbon policies in fast-growing cities in the EAP Region which will define the Region's energy future and its GHG footprint. This book is based on case studies undertaken in three pilot cities -- Cebu City (the Philippines), Da Nang (Vietnam), and Surabaya (Indonesia) -- which illustrate the use of an energy efficiency platform -- SUEEP (sustainable urban energy and emissions planning) -- for the identification and prioritisation of green investments across all major infrastructure sectors. It presents the SUEEP process as a framework for collaboration between municipal governments, stakeholders, private investors and financing institutions in achieving the green growth objectives at the city level. It also provides step-by-step guidance on the SUEEP framework in the form of a Guidebook to help a city develop its own energy and emissions plan and link its aspirations to actionable initiatives to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.

Unlocking Commercial Financing for Clean Energy in East Asia was written for government decision makers in middle and high-income countries, members of international financing communities, and practitioners. In East Asia, all middle-income countries have national targets for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and some even have targets for carbon reduction. However, a major hurdle to achieving a sustainable energy path is mobilising the required financing. Policy makers must determine how to unlock commercial financing to scale up clean energy investments. This title builds on recent experience in applying public financing instruments and attempts to address the following issues: when and under what circumstances to use public financing instruments, which instrument to select, and how to design and implement them most effectively. First and foremost, effective and conducive policies are essential to catalysing commercial investment in clean energy. Once the right policy regime has been put in place, public financing mechanisms designed to mitigate risks and close financing gaps have proven to play a major catalytic role in kick-starting substantial investments in clean energy. Public financing mechanisms for energy efficiency are particularly important to mitigating financiers' risk perceptions, to aggregating small deals, and to enhancing the interest and capacity of domestic banks. Public financing for renewable energy can provide long-term loan tenure to match the long payback period, mitigate technology risks, and increase access to financing for small and medium enterprises. The selection of public financing instruments should be tailored to the market barriers, the targeted market segments, the regulatory environment, and the maturity of the financial market. Engaging domestic banks through credit lines and guarantees has had the greatest impact in unlocking private financing. Dedicated funds and mezzanine and equity funds can effectively increase access to financing for small and medium enterprises and clean energy start-ups. Finally, the impact of public financing instruments can be substantially increased if they are packaged with technical assistance.