The third annual Sustainability Finance Forum focusing on Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia was held on 15-16 April, this time online. The goal of the forum is to serve as a catalyst for investments in sustainable infrastructure and development in the region by creating dialogue as well as by sharing best practices and lessons learned. Over 30 speakers and 200 attendees participated in the event. The forum covered important topics such as renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) investments, green bonds, agribusiness sustainability, financial inclusion in the EECA region, impact measurements and valuation, and many more.
For the second time, GEFF in Armenia contributed to the dialogue. Mr Gernot Kuhlisch, the project manager of GEFF in Armenia and Georgia, participated in the panel discussion on increasing the share of EE finance. The panellists discussed EE finance for businesses and multi-apartment building blocks and how the process can be accelerated in general.
EE finance has been a priority for the EBRD throughout the years, as it is relevant to a wide variety of sectors, in addition to other areas of green finance. Even though awareness and investments have been increasing, there are still barriers and opportunities for improving and accelerating the financing of EE projects. The obstacles, as well as the ways to overcome them, were addressed at the forum by Mr Kuhlisch: “There are barriers at the regulatory and policy levels, as well as cultural, technical and financial. In addition, even though the awareness level is much higher than years ago, it is still low.” Market barriers also strongly impact EE investments. “The lowest cost/price is usually the main investment criterion when purchasing equipment rather than life-cycle cost; higher prices for imported technologies and cheap energy prices for end-users also influence the investment decisions,” noted Mr Kuhlisch.
To overcome these barriers, several solutions and incentive mechanisms were discussed, both with immediate impact to boost EE finance in the short term and sustained effect to keep the momentum going in the long run. These include incentives for investors in the form of short cash-back periods and economic incentives, possibly through tax exemptions or grants. Furthermore, standardising investments, conducting targeted energy audits and facilitating independence from external parties by developing own in-house technical capabilities could help accelerate EE finance, according to the panellists. Training and capacity-building are other ways to contribute to EE development, which GEFF in Armenia has been doing for the past two years for potential investors, partner financial institutions and vendors.
The GEFF Programme is committed to facilitating the transition to a green economy. Therefore, events that bring together different stakeholders in the region for dialogue and create new opportunities for partnerships and investments are always welcome. GEFF in Armenia will continue to participate in the discussion about energy efficiency and contribute to further identifying and overcoming the existing barriers.
Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter