UN/ECE PROJECT ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY INVESTMENTS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION

This three-year project will enhance the energy efficiency, infrastructure and capacity of five Eastern European and CIS countries (Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Ukraine) which have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and will provide resources to the project. As part of the UN/ECE supported Energy Efficiency 21 project, it will focus on three areas - district heating, municipal lighting, and hospitals. The specific objectives are to identify, develop, finance and implement energy-efficient projects; improve energy efficiency policies in the five participating countries; develop skills in the private and public sectors; and establish the infrastructure and practices of commercial banks and other private sector participants in financing energy efficiency projects.

The UN/ECE project in Ukraine is co-funded by USAID and the UN Foundation. It is implemented under the auspices of the State Committee for Energy Conservation through the Agency for Rational Energy Use and Ecology (ARENA-Eco). Specific project tasks in Ukraine are:

• to develop and submit for review to financial institutions at least six business plans for investment projects for greenhouse gas mitigation;
• to train thirty municipal energy managers, commercial bank managers and other experts about basics of climate change; project baseline emissions development; and project development, finance, business planning;
• to establish a network of the trained specialists;
• to provide support to four municipalities in climate change mitigation action plan development;
• provide support in establishing four energy efficiency investment zones.

Preliminary proposals on establishing energy efficincy demonstration zones

The United Nations Foundation established by Ted Turner to oversee the administration of his gift to the United Nations approved up to $2 million for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's (UN/ECE) proposal on Energy Efficiency Investments for Climate Change Mitigation.