The End is Near for Dirty Energy: Fossil Fuels are Being Abandoned by Investors, Insurers and Banks

“I’m done with fossil fuels. They’re done. They’re just done. We’re starting to see divestment all over the world.” - CNBC’s Jim Cramer

The fact that investors, insurance companies and banks are abandoning the fossil fuel industry is a clear sign that coal, oil and gas are in the final stage of their energy dominance. Those who refuse to come to terms with this fundamental reality will by punished financially and in the court of public opinion.

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.

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.

Video - Solar Schools Crowdsourcing Community Initiative

The Solar Schools project is putting clean energy in classrooms all over the country. This project gets students and the wider community involved in an effort to support renewable energy and reduce school utility bills. Solar Schools is run by 10:10, a charity that brings people together to help tackle climate change.

For more information on the Solar Schools initiative click here.

Make sure to see the article titled, "Comprehensive Green School Information and Resources." It contains links to over 200 articles covering everything you need to know about sustainable academics, student's eco-initiatives, green school buildings, and college rankings as well as a wide range of related information and resources.

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Amplifyd: A Unique Crowdsourced Lobbying Platform

The Amplifyd crowdsourced lobbying platform was launched on June 10th. It supports several campaigns including those focused on environmental themes. Amplifyd is a social activism startup based in Berkeley, California that allows people to influence public policy. Their platform is the world's first technology-driven lobbying solution.

Amplfyd works by giving supporters the opportunity to purchase lobbying calls to elected officials while financially supporting the nonprofit at the same time. People can also generate income by becoming a caller.

New Social Activism Crowdsourcing Platform

Social activism can change the world and a new concept is being launched shortly that will help give people more power and influence over their governments. This new social activism is called Amplifyd, it is a crowdsourced lobbying platform where people can support causes in their community and in return get a personal representative that will call and lobby their elected officials on their behalf.

Event - Green Port South Asia

The 2nd GreenPort South Asia Conference will take place on February 26 and 27, 2014 at the The President Hotel in Mumbai, India. The conference will again focus on the sustainable development of ports and terminals but will also look at the need for the infrastructure to keep pace with the development of ports together with investment and finance options and initiatives. This conference will include environmental policy framework and legislation; infrastructure: green initiatives for development and construction; investment for port development: financing green projects as well as the practical issues of pollution control; improving efficiency and increasing profitability in ports and terminal.

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.

Sustainable Development Goals to Follow Millennium Development Goals

Under the auspices of the UN, a new global sustainability initiative is taking shape. With the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) having wrapped up its work on September 20th and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set to expire in 2015, political leaders and policy makers are crafting a new development framework based on sustainability.

A World Bank Action Plan to Combat Climate Change

The World Bank has been an advocate of environmental action for many years now. Recently the Bank's president Jim Yong Kim called for a plan to address climate change. Rachel Kyte, vice-president for sustainable development, explained that fighting climate change has become a guiding principle for the bank.

The World Bank has introduced a wide array of projects to mitigate and adapt to climate change: from promoting partnerships for climate action in urban areas across the globe to funding clean technology in developing countries.

The World Bank: Declining Climate Change Funding

The World Bank is a strong supporter of efforts to counter climate change. However, funding for climate-related projects has been declining sharply since peaking in 2010. The World Bank acknowledges that climate change represents a fundamental threat to economic development and the fight against poverty. The Turn Down the Heat reports explained the consequences of 4°C warming by 2100. The costs of a 4°C temperature increase will have adverse global impacts including reduced crop yields and flooding.

Studying Sustainable Development Best Practices

Soon to be released research is working on identifying the best practices in sustainable development. The Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ENVforum) is about to release a research study conducted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (Switzerland), Earth Council Asia-Pacific (Philippines) and Public Strategy for Sustainable Development (Belgium). This research was conducted in collaboration with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES – Japan). The research team also worked closely with ASEF, through the ENVforum.

Infographic - Arab Wealth Building a Sustainable Future

Video - George Soros Says We Need to Rethink Economic Theory

Most of us engaged in sustainability advocacy recognize that there are profound flaws in our current economic system. While some naive and ill-informed green extremists believe we need to do away with economics all together, George Soros co-founder of the Institute for New Economic Thinking espouses a far more rational view.

"Economic theory needs to be rethought from the ground-up," Soros says. He specifically criticizes economists who are trying to produce theories that behave like laws in Newtonian physics, which Soros has long believed is impossible.

"You need a new approach with different methods and also different criteria of what is acceptable," he says. And he says that economic thinking needs to begin addressing real-world policy questions rather than simply creating more mathematical equations.

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