Swiss help developing countries go green
Switzerland is allocating $21 million (SFr24 million) to a programme to help promote the use of renewable energy sources in developing countries.
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said the goal was to foster an eco-friendly energy supply through a series of investments and measures to improve the investment climate and private-sector incentives.
SREP (Scaling-up Renewable Energy in Low-Income Countries), is run under the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), a World Bank-approved project.
As the largest funds of this kind, the CIF aims to help developing and transition countries to meet carbon emission targets as they undergo economic growth, Seco said in a statement.
The SREP's other donors are the Netherlands, Britain, United States, Japan and Norway. The total pledged amount is $290 million.
All renewable energy sources that have proven themselves, such as geothermal energy, solar energy, wind energy, biomass and small hydropower plants, are supported by the programme.
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