The Rockefeller Foundation is committing $1bn over the next three years to help stimulate an ‘inclusive, green recovery’ from the pandemic.

Funds will focus on the two key areas of scaling distributed renewable energy across developing countries and ensuring more equitable medical access to COVID-19 testing and support.

“There’s no going back to the past, to before-COVID. We need to reimagine the future we want,” said Dr Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation. “To meet this moment, we must leverage all our resources and relationships to build an equitable, sustainable future, where everyone has the opportunity to realise their full potential and climate disaster is avoided. The time to act is right now to make sure vulnerable children and families are included in the pandemic response and recovery.”

Over the past decade, The Rockefeller Foundation has made ending energy poverty a priority and using distributed renewable energy technologies, the Foundation hopes to end energy poverty in a decade without accelerating carbon emissions.

“Over the past decade, our Smart Power Initiative’s investments have improved the lives of almost 500,000 people in India, Myanmar, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa, so we know this can work,” said Ashvin Dayal, senior VP of the Power & Climate Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation. “By refining the business case for distributed renewable electrification and deepening our technical knowledge of mini grid systems and their impact on people’s lives and livelihoods, we paved the way for the launch of a partnership with Tata Power, TP Renewable Microgrid (TPRMG). This effort is expected to invest $1bn by 2026, deploying up to 10,000 mini grids that will provide clean energy to 5 million households, create 10,000 new green jobs, support 100,000 rural enterprises, deliver irrigation to 400,000 farmers, and in total, provide access to reliable power for more than 25 million people across the communities they serve.”

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