A green energy coalition tied to billionaire-backed outfits such as the Bezos Earth Fund and the Rockefeller Foundation was preparing to funnel another $7.5 billion into global projects, Reuters reported on Monday. [emphasis, links added]
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) was launched in 2021 and has worked to help electrify grids, building out battery storage systems and creating green energy jobs across impoverished regions in Africa, Latin America, and other nations, according to its website.
GEAPP Chief Executive Woochong Um told Reuters that the group is gearing up to invest around $7.5 billion as part of its five-year plan, though some of the group’s work is reportedly more difficult in the wake of the Trump administration’s leading a shift away from climate funding and foreign aid, according to the publication.
“Climate alarmism is a hoax, and wind and solar energy are pointlessly expensive. But if billionaires like Jeff Bezos want to spend their own money virtue signaling on climate, they may certainly do what they wish,” Steve Milloy, senior fellow at the Energy and Environment Legal Institute, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“But if they really want to help mankind, there are many more and better ways to spend $7.5 billion to achieve actual philanthropic progress.”
GEAPP lists the Bezos Earth Fund, the IKEA Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as its “anchor partners” on its website.
“GEAPP’s Anchor Partners provide the Alliance with risk-tolerant grant capital, set the strategic vision, and use their deep experience in philanthropy to help ensure consistent progress toward our goals,” the group’s website states.
GEAPP acquires free or cheap money from charitable organizations or government sources to minimize investment risk to draw in more support from the private sector and financial institutions, though this has been complicated by the shifting investment landscape under President Donald Trump, according to Reuters.
The group plans to raise $500 million between 2026 and 2030 and leverage it about 15 times to open another $7.5 billion, Um told Reuters.
“With aid budgets under pressure, we need new models to deliver development at scale,” Um told Reuters, noting that the alliance’s plans include “an Energy and Opportunity Coalition” to integrate green energy technologies into sectors like agriculture and healthcare.
Composed of over 50 partners, GEAPP has helped to work on 137 projects in over 30 countries, with a substantial focus on battery storage systems, according to its website.
Battery energy storage systems can be used to store electricity generated by solar panels or wind turbines for later use, according to the National Grid Group.
Notably, battery energy storage systems have drawn controversy as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the first federal safety guidance for the technology, as some New York residents voiced their concerns over potential lithium-ion battery fires following recent severe cases.
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Did these billionaires think about how these “green energy” projects will actually help the poor nations become no longer poor? If they really want to help them and their citizens move out of poverty would be providing funding for reliable electric generators such as coal plants.
“…and foreign aid,…” from US taxpayers? Set their sights a little lower and use their own money.
Finding reliable local labor could be a problem. I was supposed to have 108 natives on my part of a seismic crew in Papua New Guinea in the 1960’s. On any given day there would be 3 or 4 out hunting. I had men from three different tribes. Each time we moved along a line each tribe would set up their own camp, they worked together but wouldn’t ‘live’ together.
“Guns, Germs, and Steel”, by Jared Diamond was written at about the same time, 1967. Walking on a jungle track if a person saw someone who was not from his tribe, he was automatically an enemy.
I read that book several years ago. Fascinating book in why certain groups succeeded and others failed.