Green Banks Leverage Private Investments for Climate Finance

In addition to creating new jobs and improving the environment Green Banks are essential to ramping-up clean energy finance. Such banks are capable of helping to unleash the vast potential of climate focused investing. Green Banks reduce the cost of clean energy and efficiency. They are helping to change market thinking by taking a holistic, long-term view of industry support.

A Green Bank is a government-created institution that facilitates private sector financing for clean technology projects. Different Green Banks have different programs, however, they all leverage public funds to attract private investment.

Green Finance Goes Mainstream in 2016

The world is embracing green finance as never before and all expectations are that this will increase as we move towards a low carbon economy. Financial systems should play an important role in the green economic transition said, Zhou Xiaochuan, the Governor of the People's Bank of China. Zhou was speaking at the Green Finance Symposium which took place on Saturday, April 15th in Washington.
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After years of volatility, green finance is emerging as a central part of our efforts to address climate change and transform our energy infrastructure. Green finance is preoccupied with adapting to the impacts of climate change and/or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is the means by which we can stream tremendous amounts of needed capital into emissions free sources of power.

Green Bonds Emerging as a Major Force in Green Finance

The momentum driving green bonds is growing and they have emerged as a major instrument of green finance. Green bonds generate funding for sustainable development and clean energy technology. They attract debt investment capital and drive innovation in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, forests and other environmental causes. At COP21 green bonds were touted as being one of the vehicles that could help deliver $100 billion annually by 2020 to support of climate action.

IDB to Double Climate Related Projects

In October last year Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced that it is going to double its climate related projects by increasing financing by between 25 and 30 percent by 2020. The IDB was established in 1959, it offers long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Green Climate Fund Comes of Age

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a United Nations climate finance mechanism designed to assist the developing world.by mobilizing funding for mitigation and adaptation. The GCF mission is to expand collective human action to respond to climate change. It will do this in large part  through the transfer cutting-edge climate technologies. This includes things like smart-grid technologies, electric vehicles and components used in solar electricity generation.

World Bank to Finance More Renewables in the Developing World

After being called out for hypocrisy, the World Bank is working to redeem itself through massive investments in renewable energy. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group are holding their annual "Spring Meetings events" in Washington, DC, on April 12-17, 2016. It will be attended by thousands of government officials, journalists, civil society organizations, and participants from the academia and private sectors. The meetings will feature seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the world's financial markets.

Innovative Solar Energy Financing Instruments

Investments in solar energy are booming alongside some innovative financing instruments. As explained by President Obama a bit more than a year ago every four minutes, an American home or business goes solar. There are a host of new financial instruments that serve the green economy and starting in 2013 we began to see some innovative approaches to finance in the solar sector.

New Sustainability Focused Financial Instruments

Investors have a wide assortment of new financially responsible instruments. Sustainability investment options run the gamut from simple things like energy conservation projects to complex multi-stakeholder initiatives that target social and environmental improvements. Responsible investing, impact investing, socially responsible investing covers the full range of asset classes in many sectors. This includes instruments that combat climate change, encourage conservation and support social causes. Some examples include green bonds, climate bonds, yield cos, conservation investment and natural resources

Event - Green Bonds 2015 Conference

The 5th annual Green Bonds conference will take place on June 22 June 2015, at the Hilton Tower Bridge Hotel, 5 More London Place, Tooley Street, London, UK.

This event is presented by Environmental Finance proud supporters of the green bond market since its inception. The conference has long been the home of movers, shakers and vital discussions in this growing market. Indeed, the seed of the Green Bond Principles was sown at our 2013 conference, when two influential bankers began a conversation about how to add some standardisation to the market.

Discussion - The Other Debt Ceiling: Using Finance to Balance Our Environmental Budget

This discussion will take place on November 20, 2013, and is presented by Solar One and NYC ACRE 7 p.m. -9 p.m. (Doors at 6:30), The WNYC Jerome L. Greene Performance Space 44 Charlton Street, New York City.

As weather events become more extreme, water shortages threaten, and human sprawl leads to biodiversity loss, there is a new focus on the global economic impact of environmental degradation. Studies from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Harvard School of Public Health, and others assert that our active growth and inactive conservation efforts have left us with a trillion-dollar bill.

Republicans Oppose the PTC but Support Oil Subsidies

It is not surprising that many Republicans who oppose the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for renewable energy, support fossil fuel subsidies. Although the PTC was extended through 2013, some Republicans have vowed to continue their push to kill it. Conservatives are well known for their love of free markets and distrust of government subsidies, unless of course it involves fossil fuels. Some Republicans in Congress have made it clear that they will seek amendments that erode the PTC.

Republicans including the 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, wanted to let the PTC expire. Romney and other Republicans who oppose the PTC say it costs too much and props up businesses with government subsidies.

Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said in an email that Romney "believes the government should stop playing venture capitalist and doling out open-ended subsidies, and instead encourage private sector innovation and market competition.” This is part of the same conservative philosophy that advocates for unbridled free markets and supports deregulation.

A Condensed History of the Production Tax Credit (PTC)

After 20 years and many extensions, the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) expired at the end of 2012, but then miraculously it was once again resurrected in an eleventh hour addendum to the fiscal cliff deal. On Jan. 1, 2013, the final vote of the 112th Congress secured the extension of the PTC. Although 60+ tax provisions were due to expire the last minute deal granted the PTC a stay of execution.

In the final hours of the fiscal cliff negotiations, a provision in the American Taxpayer Relief Act (P.L. 112-240) added a $12 billion, one year extension of the PTC. The $12 billion figure ($12.1 billion to be exact) was estimated by the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Just before 2 A.M. on New Year’s Day 2013, the Senate overwhelming voted in favor of the deal (89-8).

Event - Rutgers University Course: Environmental Funding

On January 30th 2013, Rutgers University is offering a one day seminar course on Environmental Funding. The seminar will take place from  9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. This one-day seminar will introduce strategies to fund environmental remediation, economic development and renewable energy projects. Participants will have ample opportunity to present specific concerns to speakers throughout the day.

Funding opportunity mechanisms to be discussed include: 

• State and federal grants
• Private financing resources
• PILOTs
• Incentives for solar projects.

Event - Renewable Energy Finance and Infrastructure Summit

The fourth annual Renewable Energy Finance and Infrastructure Summit will take place on February 27th – 28th, 2013 in Vienna Austria. Concrete efforts in the energy sector are moving Renewable Energy towards a truly sustainable role within the global energy market. Despite this, both European and other countries are continuing to face difficulties related to National budget cuts, changes to financial markets, and instability in both the regulatory and policy environments.

These issues continue to prevent smooth progress with Renewable Energy projects. In the face of these obstacles, finance and investment professionals in the renewables sector have continued to find innovative approaches to increase the contribution that their projects can make to both energy markets and sustainable approaches to energy production.

The Implications of the Expiration of US Renewable Energy Subsidies

US Renewable energy subsidies expired in 2011 and this will slow the growth of renewables. There is already evidence that the expiration of the renewable energy cash grant programme under Section 1603 of the US Internal Revenue Code will reduce the volume of new renewable energy projects.

US Wind Energy Market Review and Forecasts for 2012

After decreasing by almost 50 percent in 2010 the US wind installations began to show signs of recovery in 2011. Wind farms have proliferated across the United States over the past decade, they now generate 3 percent of the nation's electricity. Wind power has installed 35 percent of all new American electric generation in the last five years. Wind energy is also one of the fastest growing new sources of US manufacturing jobs. American wind power accounts for 75,000 jobs today, and can grow to almost 100,000 jobs four years from now and according to a Bush Administration study, wind can support 500,000 American jobs less than 20 years from now. The U.S. now has over 400 manufacturing facilities in 43 states involved in wind turbine manufacturing. This represents a 12-fold growth in domestic manufacturing over the last six years.

Renewable Energy in 2012: The Global Economic and Environmental Climate

Since 2009, lower fuel and energy prices created some tough uphill conditions for renewable energy. Despite these powerful headwinds renewable energy installations have increased over the last few years.