The Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) is a multilateral public private partnership initiated by the Climate Technology Initiative and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It identifies and nurtures promising, innovative clean and renewable energy projects by bridging the gap between investors, clean energy entrepreneurs and project developers.
The primary obstacle to the large-scale deployment of low carbon, climate resilient technologies in developing countries and emerging economies is the access to finance. PFAN mobilizes private sector's expertise in financing climate-friendly projects and technologies to screen business plans and select projects that are economically viable, as well as environmentally and socially beneficial. For the selected entrepreneurs and businesses, PFAN provides guidance in areas such as economic feasibility, project structure, investment and financing, preparation of the business plan, and introductions to investors.
By assisting with the development and deployment of low carbon generation capacity in developing countries, PFAN also contributes to achieving the goals of the 2016 UNFCCC Paris Agreement, and meeting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 7 (energy), Goal 9 (industry), Goal 13 (climate action), and Goal 17 (partnership).
PFAN provides services to:
- Unlock frontier markets for climate technologies
- Create financial service ecosystems
- Capacitate businesses to develop bankable projects
- Mitigate investor risk with increased project quality and knowledge
- Facilitate project-to-finance match-making
- Aggregate pipeline of projects for large-scale investment
- Collect and promote best practices; replicate promising business models
PFAN is one of few actors in the climate finance field addressing the barriers for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries and emerging economies, by leveraging private sector investment with a small amount of public funds (leverage rate of USD 80-100 for every USD 1 of donor funds).
PFAN track record
PFAN has raised total financing of $1.2 billion, which is being used to build, install and operate 701 megawatts (MW) of clean power for 87 projects across Africa, Asia and Latin America. These projects – which include solar and wind farms, biomass and biogas power plants, small hydro generation, decentralized renewable energy mini-grids for underserved areas, and others – together translate to over 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere annually. PFAN works in different countries in all the regions of the world. Asia and Africa currently dominate, at the same time, PFAN is expanding across Latin America and the Caribbean, and recently launched activities in Ukraine, Georgia and Uzbekistan.
PFAN's partners and donors include: the Government of Australia; the International Development Research Centre, Canada; the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry/International Centre for Environmental Technology Transfer, Japan; the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency; the United States Agency for International Development; the Asian Development Bank; the Climate Technology Initiative and its Member States.
PFAN is hosted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Programme is executed in collaboration with the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).
Opportunities for engagement
- Become a donor and member of the Steering Committee to guide PFAN’s future
- Offer a strategic partnership to help PFAN expand its services, pipeline, and implementation capacity
- Become a network member as project developer; mentor/coach; or investor
For more information please visit the website or the Project on the UNIDO Open data platform.
Contact:
PFAN - UNIDO Project Manager
email