President and CEO of RIFE Kwabena Osei-Sarpong was hosted by the Philippines Secretary of Energy, Alfonso Cusi during CERAWeek in Houston on March 9, 2022, to sign the Clean Energy Demand Initiative (CEDI) letter of intent together with other corporate partners including Akamai, Amazon, Apple, Ikea, Iron Mountain, Lady Lawyer Foundation, Lululemon, Meta, Ralph Lauren, REI, and WeWork.
The Clean Energy Demand Initiative (CEDI) was launched at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow by the office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the Bureau of Energy Buyers Alliance, RE100, the World Resource Institute as well as country partners.
According to an article released by the U.S Department of State’s Bureau of Energy and Resources, CEDI, which is led by the Bureau of Energy Resources at the US Department of State in collaboration with the Clean Energy Buyers Alliance and other stakeholders, assists countries and businesses in working together to advance shared clean energy goals.
It provides a venue for companies and countries to signal investment potential and policy plans, as well as a platform for stakeholder engagement and country partnerships. Thirty-nine companies have signed letters of intent to purchase renewable energy to offset electricity demand in major industries such as technology, manufacturing, retail, and health care. Private sector demand for renewable energy has the potential to unlock more than $2 billion in private sector investment in power infrastructure in the Philippines.
More than 75 companies have expressed interest in investing in 14 countries, potentially generating up to $100 billion in renewable energy infrastructure investment. In many cases, renewable investment serves as a supplement to larger industrial and commercial investments.
CEDI is one of the United States’ efforts to address the climate crisis highlighted at COP26. During the COP, the US will launched a number of new initiatives and partnerships with other countries and the private sector in order to mobilize concrete action in key areas such as methane, clean energy, forests, industrial decarbonization, and adaptation.
“RIFE’s mission has always been to build strong partnerships and help the world transition to a more resilient and sustainable future. With the Clean Energy Demand Initiative, we have the opportunity to engage energy experts from around the world in order to share success stories, and push for more de-carbonization strategies to make the world a better place.”-Kwabena Osei-Sarpong.