Standard Bank
and UNEP collaborate on the Africa Carbon
Asset Development (ACAD) Facility
Johannesburg, March
3, 2010 - Project developers, bankers and
others setting up carbon projects as part
of the fight against climate change have
a new place to go for help. ACAD, the first
facility dedicated to boosting the African
carbon market, has launched by awarding
several new grants.
The Facility is a partnership
between the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), Standard Bank and the German Government's
International Climate Initiative, administered
by its Federal Environment Ministry. ACAD
supports African carbon projects through
a combination of technical assistance, grants
and preferential access to corporate finance
and transactional guidance.
One of the key challenges
Africa faces is in removing investment barriers
to low-carbon sustainable development. Combined
with traditional debt or equity finance,
carbon finance is a promising means of attracting
funding for energy and infrastructure projects;
and it is here that ACAD can help.
ACAD takes a new approach
toward capacity and market development,
sharing costs and risks with African banks
such as Standard Bank to realize and replicate
projects.
"Huge investments,
especially in Africa, will be needed if
we are to minimize the effects of climate
change," said Sylvie Lemmet, Director
of UNEP's Paris-based Division of Technology,
Industry and Economics. "Government
investment alone will not be enough. ACAD
is a good example of how we can attract
much-needed private capital for investments
that address climate change."
The ACAD partnership
couples UNEP's longstanding capacity building
expertise in environmental policy and finance
with the financial know-how and regional
reach of Standard Bank. "We are keen
to bring our global experience on carbon
finance back to our roots in Africa and
to combine it with the leading technical
expertise of UNEP and its Risoe Center,"
said Geoff Sinclair, Head of Carbon Sales
and Trading at Standard Bank. "Our
objective is to collaborate with local companies
and investors to bring Africa to the forefront
of the carbon markets and we look forward
to working with everyone to achieve this."
ACAD has recently awarded
its first grants to innovative "green"
development projects in Kenya, Nigeria and
South Africa. These include:
? The Lake Turkana Wind
Power Project in Kenya, one of the largest
renewable energy generation projects on
the African continent to have achieved financial
closure. ACAD will provide partial payment
for validation costs under the Clean Development
Mechanism?the U.N. carbon credit scheme;
and
? The Lagos Waste Management
Authority in Nigeria which is developing
several waste-to-energy sites. ACAD is supporting
the costs of engineering and carbon auditing
studies required to earn carbon credits.
Another ACAD beneficiary
is the Athi River Mining (ARM) Company Ltd.,
which operates a cement plant in Kenya and
is attempting to reduce coal consumption
in a cement plant by using locally available
biomass resources. "As we are continuously
working to improve our environmental footprint,
Athi River Mining appreciates the technical
and financial support provided by the new
ACAD Facility to get this project off the
ground. We will look to the lessons of this
project for further energy and cost savings
across the company," says Mr. Pradeep
Paunrana, Managing Director of ARM.
Cas Coovadia, CEO of
the Banking Association of South Africa,
points to the timeliness of the initiative.
"Climate change will affect African
business profoundly over time. The continent,
and its people, will feel the brunt of climate
change and will need to address its impact
in conditions that are already difficult.
The role of business in addressing this
challenge in a sustainable manner is critical.
I am delighted that the partners are launching
the ACAD initiative, which will build capacity
and understanding amongst African financial
institutions and in turn the business community.
This will enable these sectors to bring
their unique skills to the table in tackling
the climate change problem."
Notes to Editors
More about ACAD
ACAD is a public-private
partnership between UNEP, Standard Bank,
and the German Government. The partnership
serves to facilitate carbon market development
in Africa by:
? Building the capacity
of local banks as well as increasing access
to finance and skills on the part of local
entrepreneurs. For example, ACAD is organizing
a number of training activities to build
expertise within African financial institutions
to identify and appraise carbon investment
projects. Around 40 participants from across
Africa took part in the first seminar organized
by ACAD in Cape Town, South Africa. A second
seminar for bankers in East Africa will
be held in Nairobi on March 2 in tandem
with the Africa Carbon Forum. Additional
training activities across Africa are planned
throughout 2010, including a second African
Bankers' Carbon Finance Investment Forum
planned for late October, in Johannesburg.
? Leverage private capital
with grant funds made available from the
German Government's International Climate
Initiative administered by the Federal Ministry
for the Environment. ACAD hopes to mobilize
greater investment in the emergent African
carbon market by supporting roughly a dozen
projects in 2010 which will be scrutinized
for their ability to be replicated elsewhere
on the Continent. Examples of project development
costs that may be covered under the ACAD
Facility include completion and validation
of project documents for the CDM legal or
environmental due diligence studies, and
the development of financing plans and guarantee
applications.
As climate investments
continue to scale up and global climate
financing instruments continue to evolve,
novel partnerships such as ACAD are invaluable
learning platforms. In the case of Africa,
which has pressing needs for developing
new power and infrastructure capacity, platforms
such as ACAD can be concrete testing grounds
to more efficiently tap Africa's potential
to finance such projects through market-based
instruments.
www.unep.fr/energy/activities/acad
About Standard Bank
Standard Bank is a leading
African banking group focused on emerging
markets globally. It has been a mainstay
of South Africa's financial system for over
145 years, and now spans 17 countries across
the African continent. Its international
expansion has taken it to 16 countries outside
Africa including Brazil, Russia and China.
Its headquarters are in Johannesburg and
it is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Standard Bank's Corporate
and Investment Banking division is a leading
global emerging markets corporate and investment
bank and offers its clients banking, trading,
investment, risk management and advisory
services in developing economies throughout
the world. It has specific sector expertise
in industries relevant to its global footprint,
with strong sector value propositions in:
mining & metals; oil, gas & renewables;
telecommunications & media; power &
infrastructure and Financial Institutions.
Standard Bank Plc in
London is the bank's principal international
subsidiary. It is authorised and regulated
by the Financial Services Authority, and
is a member of the London Stock Exchange,
the London Bullion Market Association, the
London Metal Exchange, the London Platinum
and Palladium Market and the New York Mercantile
Exchange (COMEX Division). Through its branch
in Tokyo, it is also a member of the Tokyo
Commodities Exchange (TOCOM). It has major
trading affiliates in Brazil (Banco Standard
de Investimentos S.A.), Argentina (Standard
Bank Argentina S.A.), and Hong Kong (Standard
Bank Asia Ltd.)
Key facts and figures
? Standard Bank Group
assets of approximately US$172 billion (as
at June 2009)
? Market Capitalisation
of approximately US$18 billion (June 2009)
? Present in 33 countries
around the world
? Employs more than
50,000 people world-wide (including Liberty)
Standard Bank in the
Carbon Markets
Standard Bank was one
of the first banks in the world to enter
the carbon markets in 2002 and is now a
leader in the field, having pioneered a
broad range of new transaction and financing
types in CDM and completed transactions
in 2009 resulting in the investment of approximately
$700 million directly into emissions abatement.
We are now deploying this expertise in Africa
to help make African countries leaders in
the global carbon markets.
Standard Bank has a
global carbon team which has won multiple
awards for its work, including Environmental
Finance Magazine's Carbon Finance Deal of
the Year 2009. Our approach is to partner
with local project developers, consultants
and investors to ensure that investments
and projects happen. The carbon team also
collaborates with governments and NGOs to
use its extensive local capabilities to
deliver low carbon development assistance
with maximum impact.
For further information visit: www.standardbank.com/cib
About UNEP and its UNEP
Risoe Center
UNEP is the United Nations
system's designated entity for addressing
environmental issues at the global and regional
level. In the area of climate change, UNEP's
approach aims at reducing barriers to market
development and easing the costs and risks
of entry of new actors in both the public
and private sector. The UNEP Risoe Center
has been leading UNEP activities related
to carbon finance and the Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM). URC has played a pivotal
role in facilitating the participation of
developing countries in the emerging carbon
market, focusing on support for capacity
building, and piloting new approaches. It
conducts analysis to strengthen emerging
sectors in CDM, and implements country-level
and regional activities aimed at enhancing
a more equitable regional distribution of
carbon project activities.
For further information
visit:
www.unep.org
www.uneprisoe.org
About Germany's International
Climate Initiative
The International Climate
Change Initiative (ICI) is managed by the
German Federal Ministry for the Environment
(BMU) to promote climate change projects
in developing countries and emerging economies.
A large portion of the revenues accrued
from the auction of emission allowances
in Germany are reinvested through the ICI
in international climate mitigation and
adapatation activities. This means that
the money raised from allowing energy-intensive
industries in Germany to continue emitting
gases that contribute to climate change
is in turn invested in projects that reduce
such emissions, such as the carbon investment
projects supported through ACAD. ICI funded
projects are implemented together with different
project partners. Such activities, like
ACAD, provide important stimulus in negotiations
on the international climate regime beyond
2012. ICI support is given to project proposals
that explore new ideas and solutions in
sectors like renewable energy and energy
efficiency and allow further development
of any promising approaches that emerge
from the international climate change negotiations.
For further information
visit:
http://www.bmu-klimaschutzinitiative.de/en/results
http://www.bmu.de/english/climate_energy/doc/41327.php
