The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet has committed $7.5bn to renewable power projects in developing countries, seeking to address mounting shortfalls in climate finance as aid budgets from richer nations come under pressure, The Khaama Press News Agency in Kabul reports.

The investment, unveiled in New York during the UN General Assembly, will be spread over five years and directed towards expanding electricity access, upgrading power infrastructure and supporting green employment. Woochong Um, the alliance’s chief executive, said the initiative reflected the urgent need for philanthropic and private capital to step in where traditional donors have retreated.

It will be a move particularly welcomed in countries like Afghanistan in dire need of power investment of any kind, and lacking any existing form of renewable infrastructure to build upon.

The alliance, created in 2021 with backing from IKEA, the Rockefeller Foundation and Jeff Bezos’s Earth Fund, has already financed programmes in more than 30 countries. Its latest commitment comes ahead of November’s climate summit in Brazil, where emerging economies are expected to press wealthier counterparts for greater support in financing their energy transitions.

According to Khaama Press, analysts have repeatedly warned that clean energy investment in developing economies such as Afghanistan, but excluding China, remains dangerously below levels required to meet international climate objectives. The International Energy Agency estimates that annual flows will need to rise sixfold to $1.6 trillion by the early 2030s if global targets are to be achieved.

The $7.5bn pledge, however, while significant, highlights the gulf between ambition and funding. Rising energy demand, heavy debt burdens and limited access to concessional finance continue to constrain poorer countries with observers arguing that partnerships such as the Global Energy Alliance can help bridge the gap, but stress that their efforts must be matched by stronger political commitments from advanced economies if the world is to meet its climate goals.