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.

Video - 25 Years of Sustainability (Michael Geller)

In this video Michael Geller, President, Architect AIBC, FCIP, RPP, The Geller Group, discusses what we have learned about sustainability in the last 25 years. During this time we have moved from sustainability as a concept to sustainability as the prevailing standard for buildings, infrastructure and neighborhoods.

Event - State of the World 2014 Book Launch & Symposium

State of the World 2014 Book Launch & Symposium will take place on Tuesday, April 29th, 2014 from 1:00pm - 5:00pm on the 1st Floor Conference Room, 1400 16th st. NW, Washington, DC.

At this event the Worldwatch Institute will formally release its latest edition of the annual publication State of the World 2014: Governing for Sustainability. This year's edition marks the Worldwatch Institute's 40th anniversary and discusses the importance of reclaiming legitimate governance as a means to reach a more sustainable world.

See below for details about attending the event in person or streaming it live.

Event - 8th Annual Green California Summit & Expo

The Green Market Oracle is proud to once again be an Outreach Partner for the Green California Summit & Expo. This event will be held on April 8-9, 2014 at the Sacramento Convention Center.  There are only a couple of weeks before the event convenes so register now. See details of how our readers can receive a special 20 percent discount at the bottom of the page.

White Paper - Instilling Corporate Sustainability in Your Organization

The Business Case for Corporate Sustainability Tools White Paper was published in 2013 by Dakota Software.

This eight page White Paper references 12 independent research studies that support and offer guidance to EHS and Sustainability professionals struggling to instill a culture of sustainability within their organization.

Click here to register to receive the white paper.

Sustainability Planning: Why Businesses Need to Listen to Consumers and Prepare for Government Regulation

To mitigate against risk and capitalize on opportunities, the business community must listen to consumers and prepare for an expanded role for government. The combination of increased global consumption and diminishing supply is the biggest challenge that business leaders face.

Whether we are talking about energy, food or water we are tasked to find more sustainable approaches to meet the growing demand. While part of the answer involves reducing consumption (and waste), we will also need to be much smarter in our allocation of resources.

In the quest for more energy, more food and more water we must realize that of these issues are directly impacted by climate change. Traditional fuel sources (ie, fossil fuels) are the primary cause of global warming and for a whole host of reasons, it is expected that this finite energy source will be increasingly relegated to the sidelines. Food supplies are expected to dwindle as we are confronted with greater numbers of crop destroying extreme weather events. And water is being tapped in an unsustainable fashion in much of the world causing ground wells and aquifers to run dry.

Event - Sustainability in Wales: Impact of Policy on Public Bodies and Business

This event will take place on Thursday, 27th March 2014 at the Radisson Blu Hotel Cardiff, Meridian Gate, Bute Terrace, Cardiff. This event is CPD certified. Delegates at this seminar will consider a range of policies affecting sustainability in Wales. It is scheduled to precede the introduction of the Future Generations Bill to the National Assembly for Wales - expected in summer 2014 - and as the Welsh Government is expected to put forward its planned Environment (Wales) Bill - designed to provide a more integrated management of the environment in Wales.

Event - UAE Green Festival Conferences

There are a series of conferences as part of the UAE Green Festival which is taking place from March 16th to April 16th, 2014. The conferences will feature presentations from key speakers, from companies including Google, Emirates, Masdar Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, on issues of sustainability.

Here are the conference topics and timetable:

Event - Green Energy Expo Canada 2014

This event will take place on July 29 , 2014 to July 31 , 2014 in the North Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Green Energy Expo Canada 2014 is organized by McHewel Investment Group. The goal of this exhibition is to share recent developments in clean energy sector. The aim is to gather researchers, scientists, engineers, practitioners, policy makers, from all over the world to present advances in the clean energy technologies. We are in an era in which there is a continuous progress in green energy sources and technologies and Green Energy Expo Canada 2014 will provide a forum to exchange information, present new technologies and developments, and discuss the future direction, strategies and priorities in the field of clean energy.

Event - GLOBE 2014

This event will take place from March 26-28, in Vancouver, Canada. This is North America's largest conference and exposition focused on the business of the environment. This iconic networking opportunity will gather close to 10,000 participants from more than 50 countries around the world. Participants will see more than 150 inspiring speakers and take part in 45 thought-provoking sessions across eight core themes and special tracks, plus many more workshops and special networking events.

Participants at GLOBE 2014 will gain access to the world's greatest minds around the business of the environment.  Speakers are A-listers from around the world, presenting GLOBE's best program to date. 

Video - GreenBiz Forum 2014

Greenbiz Forum 2014

Watch this video of the Greenbiz Forum 2014, a three day event which took place in February. The event covered keynotes on the future of sustainability, in-depth case-studies covering the social-environmental link, new realities of employee engagement, corporate-NGO partnerships, the new bottom line of Natural Capital, the future of sustainability reporting, and the food-energy-water stress nexus, as well as practical sessions to help you understand critical trends, and actionable information.

Program - Sustainability in Project Management Practices (SiPMP)

Sustainability in Project Management Practices - SiPMP will take place on Tuesday March 25, 2014, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

This unique offering will enable project managers to improve overall return on investment by incorporating greater sustainability during both the deployment and operational phases of any initiative. The “Practices” introduced during the program apply to all industry sectors where project and program management techniques are employed.