Europe has announced plans to back investment in renewable energy in Africa and other parts of the developing world in an effort to provide reliable electricity in an environmentally sustainable way. The European Commission has launched the Global Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Fund with Euro 80 million to part-fund private projects over the next four years. The fund will target small-scale projects, predominantly in African states. According to EC statistics, around 1.6 billion people have no regular access to reliable energy sources.