Climate Investment Funds - Accelerating Coal Transition Investment Program (CIF-ACT)

This project aims to accelerate the transition from coal-powered to clean energy while ensuring a holistic integrated socially-inclusive and gender-equal just transition in recipient countries: India Indonesia Philippines and South Africa for the first phase of the project. There could be more recipient countries in following phases. The Climate Investment Funds - Accelerating Coal Transition (CIF – ACT) investment program is building support at the local level to reconsider the development of new coal plants and accelerate the retirement of existing coal assets. It will foster new economic activities fueled by new clean energy sources for those impacted by the transition. The program works with public sector utilities and private sector operators to define pathways to advance transitions while ensuring the pursuit of a just transition approach in supporting a change away from coal in recipient countries. Project activities include: (1) supporting the closure and decommissioning of coal mines and coal power plants; (2) supporting power plant repurposing toward renewable energy and energy storage; (3) providing funding support for labour retrenchment packages and reskilling/retraining packages including a gender action plan; and (4) developing a transition strategy as part of implementing investment projects through close consultation with key stakeholders across different ministries and agencies within a recipient country. This project aims to benefit the communities in the CIF-ACT recipient countries particularity workers affected by the coal-to-clean transition including women and other traditionally marginalized groups such as Indigenous peoples youth and persons living with a disability. The Women-Led Coal Transition Mechanism complements this initiative.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased environmentally sustainable coal-to-clean transitions; (2) increased social and economic conditions for workers particularly women and vulnerable populations affected by the coal-to-clean transition; and (3) increased adoption and implementation by CIF-ACT recipient countries of equitable and gender-responsive policies and strategies for coal-to-clean transition.