Energy Transition Accelerator
What is the Energy Transition Accelerator?
The ETA is an innovative carbon finance platform aimed at catalyzing finance to speed the just energy transition in emerging and developing economies.
To help keep a 1.5°C limit on warming within reach, the ETA will bring together governments and private sector stakeholders committed to advancing ambitious energy transition strategies that achieve earlier, deeper reductions in electricity emissions while enhancing energy access.
Based on preliminary estimates, the ETA could mobilize from $72 billion to $207 billion in transition finance through 2035. A portion of the finance generated will be dedicated to addressing adaptation and resilience in vulnerable countries.
The ETA Coalition will connect willing sellers and buyers employing high-integrity carbon crediting to support faster energy transition. An innovative feature will be the introduction of sector-scale crediting in the electricity sector to ensure environmental integrity and incentivize broad sectoral transformation.
An ambitious vision for long-term impact
The ETA aims to help keep a 1.5°C limit on warming within reach by supporting the generation of high-quality carbon credits to help drive private investment into the implementation of strategies that accelerate the transition from fossil to clean power, and deliver deeper, earlier GHG reductions in developing countries while helping create jobs and social-economic growth, and meeting urgent adaptation needs, without exacerbating energy poverty.
Guiding Principles
The Energy Transition Accelerator is intended to catalyze private capital to accelerate the transition from dirty to clean power in developing countries. Its development will be guided by broad, transparent consultation and the intention to align the ETA with these six core concepts:
Incentivize comprehensive, country-led power sector transition strategies and actions that achieve long-term structural change in line with keeping 1.5 °C within reach.
Support developing countries in implementing these ambitious strategies serving their climate, energy, and broader sustainable development goals, and in achieving their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
Provide interim pathways for private sector buyers to pursue science-aligned net-zero strategies and finance high-integrity emissions reductions beyond their value chains, while anticipating a gradual phase-out of reduction-based emissions offsetting in achieving net-zero goals.
Promote strong environmental integrity by ensuring that ETA credits represent emissions reductions that are real and additional and that their use is compatible with emerging best practice for private sector net-zero strategies and with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
Promote an inclusive, just energy transition that addresses energy poverty and the needs of workers and communities whose livelihoods are affected by changes in fuels and technologies.
Catalyze new climate finance that supplements, not substitutes for, existing public, private, multilateral, and philanthropic finance, including companies’ continued investment in reducing emissions within their own value chains.
Who We Are
Steering Partners
U.S. Department of State
Bezos Earth Fund
The Rockefeller Foundation
The U.S. Department of State’s mission is to protect and promote U.S. security, prosperity, and democratic values and shape an international environment in which all Americans can thrive. Learn more at www.state.gov.
The Bezos Earth Fund is helping transform the fight against climate change with the largest ever philanthropic commitment to climate and nature protection. Jeff Bezos has committed $10 billion in this decisive decade to protect nature and address climate change. By providing funding and expertise, we partner with organizations to accelerate innovation, break down barriers to success and create a more equitable and sustainable world. Join us in our mission to create a world where people prosper in harmony with nature.
The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We make big bets to promote the well-being of humanity. Today, we are focused on advancing human opportunity and reversing the climate crisis by transforming systems in food, health, energy, and finance. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at rockefellerfoundation.org and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn.
Secretariat
The Center on Climate and
Energy Solutions (C2ES)
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) works to secure a safe and stable climate by accelerating the global transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and a thriving, just, and resilient economy. Learn more at www.c2es.org.
Senior Consultative Group
Established in 2024 to provide independent input on the ETA's design and operations.
John Kerry, Honorary Chair, former Secretary of State and former U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA)
Arunabha Ghosh, Founder-CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)
Rachel Kyte, Co-Chair, Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI)
Annette Nazareth, Chair, Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (IC-VCM)
Mary Nichols, Vice Chair, California-China Climate Institute
Damilola Ogunbiyi, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, and Chief Executive Officer for Sustainable Energy for All
Sarah Bloom Raskin, Partner, Kaya Partners, Colin W. Brown Distinguished Professor of Practice, Duke Law School, Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Former Governor, Federal Reserve Board
Vera Songwe, Co-Chair, High Level Expert Group on Climate Finance
Francesco Starace, Chair, Board of Trustees, Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)
High-Level Consultative Group
Participants in the ETA HLCG, representing a broad range of perspectives and expertise, provided independent views on issues related to the initial design phase of the ETA in 2023.
Africa Climate Foundation
Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders
Asia Investor Group on Climate Change
Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS)
Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions
Climate Policy Initiative
ClimateWorks Foundation
Council on Energy, Environment and Water
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Environmental Justice Health Alliance
European Climate Foundation
Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)
Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science
Growald Climate Fund
Institute for Essential Services Reform
International Centre for Climate Change and Development
International Council of Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC-VCM)
International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)
International Energy Agency (IEA)
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
MDB Climate Finance Working Group
National Business Initiative
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Science Based Target initiative (SBTi)
Sierra Club
Sustainable Markets Initiative
The Climate Pledge
U.N. Development Programme
U.N. Environment Programme
U.N. High Level Expert Group on Climate Finance
U.N. High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities
U.N. Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)
Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity (VCMI)
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
World Resources Institute (WRI) for Greenhouse Gas Protocol
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)