IKEA Foundation, the charitable arm of the world's biggest furniture retailer, and the Rockefeller Foundation said on Monday they plan to set up a $1-billion fund to support renewable energy programs in developing nations.
The fund, which will be launched this year, aims to reduce one billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and empower one billion people with distributed renewable energy, the foundations said in a joint statement.
Each foundation will provide $500 million of risk capital. They also hope to attract additional funds of $10 billion this year from international development agencies, before opening up to institutional investors in their bid to expand renewables investment in countries such as India, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.
The foundations have already signed agreements with the International Finance Corp, an organisation affiliated to the World Bank, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corp.
IKEA aims to be climate positive by 2030, and Ingka Group — the owner of most IKEA stores — said in April it had earmarked 4 billion euros to invest in green energy projects.
Source: Financial Times