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🗞️ Driving the news: Assisted by the World Bank the Maldives is beginning to deploy renewable energy projects across the country
• Prior to this, the country used to depend primarily on imported diesel fuel for electricity due to the high upfront cost of going renewable

🔭 The context: Developing countries struggle to switch to clean power due to lack of affordable financing, causing them to continue using fossil fuels
• The World Bank has noted that these nations are trapped by the high upfront costs of transitioning to renewable energy

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: As global efforts intensify to combat climate change, transitioning to renewable energy is paramount
• Yet, the cost of financing these projects in countries with political instability or significant debt is a barrier

⏭️ What's next: There's a need for more development banks to mitigate the risks of renewable energy projects to entice private investors
• After the World Bank offered to shoulder potential risks, the cost of a major solar project in the Maldives dropped significantly, highlighting the effectiveness of such measures

💬 One quote: "Not surprisingly, producing a unit of electricity with solar power on a sunny day is vastly cheaper than producing a unit of electricity using diesel." (Shauna Aminath, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Technology for the Maldives)

📈 One stat: With support from investors, the Maldives plans to power approximately 13,000 households using solar energy, potentially saving $20 million annually on diesel fuel

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