Solar Power Leasing for UNICEF Facilities & Premises

The United Nations System has been working to improve its environmental sustainability over several years. Responding to the latest scientific evidence, UN entities are now accelerating this work with the introduction of a new UN Sustainability Strategy 2020- 2030. This demands ambitious reductions of environmental impacts and the full integration of the Sustainable Development Goals in the management of facilities and operations.

Facilities account for about 46% of the UN’s 2018 greenhouse gas emissions. As part of the above commitments, the United Nations (UN) secretariat has committed to reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by 25% by 2025 and 45% by 2030, and to sourcing 40% of the electricity for their facilities from renewable energy by 2025 and 80% by 2030, as stated by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

UNICEF is aligning its emission reduction targets with those of the UN Secretariat.

Among UN agencies, UNICEF is currently the most advanced agency in terms of streamlined efforts to reduce the environmental impact of operations and uniquely placed to play a lead role on innovative ways to meet our ambitious goals. UNICEF is currently climate neutral as a result of offsetting all reported greenhouse gas emissions for their last reporting years since 2015.

To meet these ambitious goals, UNICEF is seeking to facilitate the transformation of all UNICEF offices across the world to a net zero carbon footprint at minimum investment and start-up costs. A key aspect of this transformation is the sourcing of renewable

energy in all UNICEF facilities. This will be achieved through a business model that operates under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) or a Power Lease Agreement (PLA). Under the former scenario UNICEF would enter into a financing arrangement with a reputable third-party energy provider to purchase electricity from solar or other renewable energy sources for as many of their premises as feasible. Under the latter scenario UNICEF would lease solar systems (under either a commercial capital or operating lease arrangement) from a reputable solar leasing company for as many of their premises as feasible.

Countries/territories

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Timor-Leste, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Malvinas) – A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao Special Administrative Region of China, Macedonia the former Yugoslav Republic, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Eswatini, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan Province of China, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, British Virgin Islands, U. S. Virgin Islands, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Antarctica, State of Palestine, Republic of Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, South Sudan

Below is the Request for Information (RFI) document.