Abstract
My colleagues and I became involved in impact investing in the early 1990s, first as an activity of the Rockefeller Foundation, eventually continuing this work through the launch of E+Co in 1994. Our focus on supporting clean-energy enterprises in developing countries has presented us with an array of challenges throughout the years, all of which stem from a core question: how can we use public (philanthropic or government) funds to create “envelopes of investment” for the private sector that will have an impact on the environment (such as slowing climate change), and on development (such as access to a modern energy supply)? By some measures, we have succeeded. Eight million people have access to a modern energy source as a result of E+Co’s investments in two hundred enterprises. US$280 million of new capital has been mobilized, and five million tons of carbon have been offset. “Energy through enterprise” and “energy poverty” are now well-known terms, and the connection between energy and climate change—and the implications for development—is firmly established. We have a community of current and former E+Co staff who have demonstrated a great commitment to the design and implementation of energy through enterprise—without them we would not have reached our level of success nor had such a great impact. But we have just scratched the surface. The world’s energy consumption will rise by 59 percent between 1999 and 2020 to 607 quadrillion BTUs. Most of the growth will occur in the rapidly developing parts of the world. Energy poverty—
Highlights
My colleagues and I became involved in impact investing in the early 1990s, first as an activity of the Rockefeller Foundation, eventually continuing this work through the launch of E+Co in 1994
Peter Goldmark and Kenneth Prewitt, the foundation’s president and vice president, conceived and led a “Global Bargains” program initiative that was based on the thesis that private capital providers from the global north would be willing to generate environmental benefits in the global south
That year marked the heavily hyped Rio Climate Summit and the rollout of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which is comanaged by the World Bank-United Nations Development Program-United Nations Environment Program
Summary
Our focus on supporting clean-energy enterprises in developing countries has presented us with an array of challenges throughout the years, all of which stem from a core question: how can we use public (philanthropic or government) funds to create “envelopes of investment” for the private sector that will have an impact on the environment (such as slowing climate change), and on development (such as access to a modern energy supply)?. Eight million people have access to a modern energy source as a result of E+Co’s investments in two hundred enterprises. Christine Eibs Singer, Cofounder and CEO of E+Co, is a frequent contributor to the social capital markets debate, regularly presenting lessons learned from E+Co’s 17 years of experience in clean energy enterprise development and investment in the developing world.
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