State Department’s Clean Energy Demand Initiative Brings Together Companies and Countries to Meet Clean Energy Goals
Today at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the Bureau of Energy Resources at the U.S. Department of State launched the Clean Energy Demand Initiative (CEDI). In collaboration with the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, RE100, the World Resource Institute, and country partners, this initiative will support countries and companies working together to advance shared clean energy goals by leveraging corporate clean energy commitments. At the launch event, high-level officials from Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Thailand as well as representatives from Amazon, HP, IKEA, and Nike affirmed their support of CEDI.
CEDI will serve as a platform for stakeholder engagement and country partnerships and create a venue for companies and countries to signal investment potential and policy plans. Thirty-nine companies have signed letters of intent to procure renewable energy to offset electricity demand for major sectors including technology, manufacturing, retail, and health. Fourteen country partners have, in turn, signaled support for high-level principles to enable corporate renewable procurement, ramping up deployment and accelerating the energy transition in support of global climate goals. The renewable energy demand from private sector partners, with over 75 companies in total expressing interest, has the potential to unlock up to $67 billion in power infrastructure, as a complement to broader sectoral investment.
CEDI is among the U.S. efforts highlighted at COP26 to tackle the climate crisis. Over the course of the COP, the United States is launching a range of new initiatives and partnerships with other countries and with the private sector to mobilize concrete action in key areas, including methane, clean energy, forests, industrial decarbonization, and adaptation.
A fact sheet on CEDI is available here.