The Ikea Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation on Monday said they will join forces to set up a $1 billion global platform to fight climate change and energy poverty.
"The platform – launching this year – aims to empower 1 billion people with distributed renewable energy (DRE). This is renewable energy generated from sources such as mini-grid and off-grid solutions, located near the point of use, rather than centralized sources like power plants," Ikea Foundation said in a statement.
Ikea Foundation said the new global platform will oversee the organisations' combined matching funds.
"It aims to deliver clean and reliable power to the 800 million people worldwide who lack electricity, and a further 2.8 billion who have unreliable access. It will be run as a public charity to manage a concerted effort to rapidly channel development funds to life-changing projects on the ground," the statement added.
According to Per Heggenes, CEO, IKEA Foundation "if global energy consumption doesn''t change from fossil fuels to renewable energy, we will not meet the Paris Agreement ambitions and millions of families will be left behind in poverty. We need to be honest and recognize that the current approach is not delivering the impact the world needs in the time that we have".
"Our collective ambition is to create a platform that supports renewable energy programmes which can deliver greenhouse gas reductions fast and efficiently and accelerate the energy transition... We aim to unite countries and communities in urgent action to tackle the climate crisis and, by doing so, we hope to positively impact the lives of 1 billion people," Per said.
Rajiv J Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation said big, bold, and pioneering collaboration and investment is required not only for the short term, but also the long term, to galvanize a better future.
"That is why we are announcing our largest commitment to date and joining forces with IKEA Foundation to double that investment. Our partnership will unlock the financing and resources that are essential to provide clean, reliable electricity that improves the lives and livelihoods of people everywhere," Shah added.
To facilitate the joint investment, The Rockefeller Foundation will incubate the platform in RF Catalytic Capital Inc., which the foundation launched in 2020.
