Our mission is to pave the way for a global scale-up of investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
SEFI is the UNEP Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative - a platform providing financiers with the tools, support, and global network needed to conceive and manage investments in the complex and rapidly changing marketplace for clean energy technologies.
SEFI's goal is to foster investment in sustainable energy projects by providing up-to-date investor information, facilitating deal origination, developing partnerships, and creating the momentum needed to shift sustainable energy from the margins of energy supply to the mainstream. For more information on SEFI and the new annual update on SEFI Activities click 
here!
October 2009
At present, the private sector is not motivated to undertake the level of investment needed by the developing world. To generate private sector interest, the expected returns on low-carbon investments will need to match the risks. This is not the case on a sufficiently widespread basis to deliver the scale of investment required. However, in themselves, they are unlikely to be sufficient to drive investment at the level and speed required.
Part of the answer is to deploy Public Finance Mechanisms (PFMs). PFMs are financial commitments made by the public sector which alter the risk-reward balance of private sector investments. They include grants, concessional finance, risk mitigation instruments and market aggregation activities. UNEP’s prior research provides more information on the range of PFMs available.
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A new release from the SEF Alliance, July 5th 2009.
The purpose of this study is to provide an analysis of the connection between government clean energy spending and various measures of economic health. The work was commission by the SEF Alliance in response to the current global economic downturn in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of why and how countercyclical investment in sustainable energy by the public sector can be a sound economic response to recession.
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May 13th 2009
The purpose of this study is to gain a more differentiated picture of the impact of the global financial crisis on the renewable energy sector by determining changes and trends in investment flows for renewable energy technologies and companies as the cost of capital rises and access to credit becomes more difficult.
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PUBLIC FINANCE MECHANISMS TO MOBILISE INVESTMENT IN CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION
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