Glasgow, Nov 4 (IANS): The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has announced the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) platform, a new global climate finance facility to accelerate the transition to renewable energy in developing countries.

The UAE committed $400 million in funding provided by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) toward the platform's goal of securing a minimum of $1 billion in total funding.

The formal launch took place on the sidelines of the COP 26 United Nations Climate Summit in Glasgow on Wednesday in the presence of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, together with Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Tongo President Faure Gnassingbe and UAE Climate Envoy Sultan Al Jaber.

Zayed Al Nahyan said: "The new ETAF platform reinforces our long-standing commitment to support positive climate action for economic growth in developing and vulnerable countries. As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UAE fundamentally believes we must work together globally, in partnerships, to mitigate the effects of climate change.

"The UAE is proud to act decisively in pushing forward a responsible, sustainability-led agenda, and in partnering with other nations to enable the significant benefits of renewable energy."

Through co-financing, ETAF will aim to mobilize an additional $2 billion in energy transition investments, targeting a total deployment of 1.5 GW of clean renewable energy generation and storage by 2030.

ETAF will be managed by IRENA from its Abu Dhabi headquarters, capitalizing on the UAE's climate finance market and renewable energy innovation infrastructure. The new accelerator platform will help mitigate investment risks and finance renewable energy projects in developing countries that may otherwise struggle to secure sufficient capital.