The United Nations today announced the 11 recipients of a special 10th anniversary edition of the UN Global Climate Action awards, ahead of the pivotal UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow later this month.
We have been recognised as a winner, under the Financing for Climate Friendly Investment category, for our industry-leading track record of debt financing for distributed solar in Africa and other emerging regions.
"We are grateful for this UN Climate Change recognition. At SunFunder we are focused on pioneering and scaling clean energy and climate investments in emerging markets, which include the world’s fast growing economies as well as the communities most heavily impacted by climate change. We cannot be serious about addressing climate change without emerging markets, and we have a long way to go and no time to waste."
Ryan Levinson, SunFunder’s Co-Founder & CEO
We have closed over $150 million for 57 solar borrowers – ranging from off-grid solar companies to commercial & industrial (C&I) solar projects – resulting in over 8 million people with improved energy access and the reduction of more than 750,000 tons of CO2e emissions each year.
This year, mobilising for this crucial decade for solving climate change, we have expanded our team and our ambition to rapidly scale up financing for the climate solutions we have helped pioneer. This includes launching the new $500 million Gigaton Empowerment Fund, as well as establishing our first permanent presence in Asia, as well as Latin American expertise.
"The problem we see is not a lack of capital to make the climate transition, but rather a lack of experts on the ground to originate and close the investable pipeline that will deliver it. At SunFunder we are proud to have built an investment team with industry-leading track record, expertise and local presence."
Audrey Desiderato, SunFunder’s Co-Founder & COO
SunFunder’s team provides a one-stop shop for clean energy and climate investments in emerging markets, with in-house legal, technical, advisory and ESG experts working alongside its investment team centred in Nairobi, Kenya.
The annual award programme, run by UN Climate Change since 2011, recognises the world’s most innovative, scalable and replicable examples of action to tackle climate change. The projects are recognised as solutions that not only address climate change, but also help drive forward progress on many other sustainable development goals, including innovation, gender equality and economic opportunity.
"The winners of the 2021 UN Global Climate Action Awards provide tangible proof that solutions to tackle the climate crisis exist and that they can be replicated and quickly scaled up. This is what inspiring leadership looks like."
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa
You can learn more about the UN Global Climate Action awards and other winners here. They will be presented at COP26.
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