Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) research fellow Arno Behrens wrote a paper discussing ways to tackle the challenges of economic development and environmental sustainability. In a policy brief on the financing of the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF), Behrens stresses the critical importance of energy services, asserting that "energy poverty impedes development."
The fund was started in late 2008 "to address the financing gap for clean energy projects in developing countries," his paper recalls. Commenting on its raison d’être, Behrens emphasized that achieving the Millennium Development Goals will entail "providing access to sustainable energy services to some 2.5 billion people.”
Behrens said that it is important for developed countries to provide developing nations with such support because "OECD countries cannot fight climate change alone" and "some €75 billion of additional investment and financial flows will be needed by 2030 for climate change mitigation in developing countries." New investments in clean energy in developing countries currently stand at just €19 billion.