Investing in renewable energy in emerging markets: A three-way win

Renewable energy in emerging markets is vital to combat climate change and maintain a livable planet, as well as to create opportunities for businesses to expand and people to have improved quality of life due to enhanced access to (clean) energy. At the same time it can help countries meet their NDC commitments. What does the opportunity look like and what needs to happen?

At Triodos we have been involved in renewable energy since the 1980s and in emerging markets since the 1990s. Currently one of the top priorities for us is the combination of the two: renewable energy in emerging markets.

Not only within Triodos, but also in the world around us, we see an increasing awareness of the importance of renewable energy to address some of the major challenges the world faces today. For instance, energy plays a big role in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Naturally in the two SDGs directly elated to energy – namely access to clean and affordable energy (SGD 7) and climate action (SDG 13).But energy also has an indirect impact on several other SDGs, from the role it plays in reducing poverty (SDG 1) through advancements in health (SDG 3), education (SDG 4) and economic growth (SDG 8), to striving for equality (SDG 10).

Read the full article by Jacco Minnaar (Director Energy and Climate Triodos Investment Management)