Reinforcing the stream of ‘clean energy finance’ for emerging economies is seen as the major stimulus on concretizing the major commitments in last year’s climate change summit and must also top the agenda in this year’s COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Dr Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-headquartered International Energy Agency (IEA) has primarily highlighted “the importance of boosting clean energy financing in emerging economies” – and he sees the imperative for it to be a priority in the next round of discussion at the forthcoming climate change summit.

Beyond that, the IEA similarly propounded the need to “track progress” in the COP28 commitments – primarily on the pledge of nearly 200 countries on tripling renewable energy investments globally by 2030; then on doubling energy efficiency improvements within this decade; as well as the targeted acceleration of the transition away from fossil fuels.

The global energy think tank further recommended the sharing of policy advice and creating forums for leaders to exchange ideas, noting that the IEA is keen on taking a leading role in “ensuring these promises are transformed into action.”

In the IEA’s view, the clean energy transition is already unstoppable due to the constant strike of disturbing news on the deepening climate crisis; while the costs of technological innovations for ‘green energy’ investments have also been continuously tracking downtrend.

Nevertheless, it is undeniable that hurdles still abound when it comes to capital flow that could bankroll the projects of clean energy project-developers in emerging economies, hence, that must be the focus of global energy leaders on the fixing front.

Birol emphasized “it’s now cheaper to build onshore wind and solar power projects than new fossil fuel plants almost everywhere worldwide.”

Additionally, he noted that “the price of electric cars continues to come down and their market share keeps rising – all while innovation on low-emissions technologies is moving ahead quickly.”

The IEA chief added “the events of recent years – including the turmoil caused by the global energy crisis, the sharp spikes in fossil fuel prices and the effects of extreme weather – are all reminders of why we need to press ahead.”

The Philippines is one of the emerging countries in the world which clearly framed its energy transition roadmap – and that shall be ushered in by massive scale RE installations, which will then account for 35% share in the country’s energy mix by 2030; and 50% by 2040.

On the energy efficiency investment route, the Philippines is similarly aggressive in embracing it as a solution not just to decarbonize key sectors of the economy but that is also enforced as a strategy for government to pare its own carbon emissions as well as save on energy usage and costs.

The shift to clean energy investments in the country would require billions of investment-dollars; hence, Philippine industry stakeholders are also vigorously competing for capital flow with similarly-situated peers in the world.