Investing in sustainable energy futures: Multilateral Development Banks investments in energy policy

The electricity sector lies at the nexus of two urgent global imperatives: powering economic activities and livelihoods and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the use of fossil fuels. The international community is looking to multilateral development banks (MDBs) to help developing countries balance these sometimes conflicting imperatives. Historically, developing countries have drawn on the public financial resources of MDBs to develop electricity infrastructure. The MDBs have propagated their ideas about technology choice, regulatory policy, and service delivery alongside their capital investments in new power lines and plants. Investing in Sustainable Energy Futures: Multilateral Development Banks