Former US Vice President Al Gore attended the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit Climate Investment and Financing Forum. The forum was co-sponsored by the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the California Government, the International Finance Forum, China News Service, and the Energy Foundation. (photo by Woodrow Chris)
The 2018 Global Climate Action Summit Climate Investment and Financing Forum was held on the 12th in San Francisco, USA. Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Espinosa, former US Vice President Al Gore, former US Secretary of Energy, Zhu Yiwen, and CEO of the Global Environment Facility, Mr. Ishii Suzuki (Naoko Ishii) ), etc. attended the forum and delivered a speech.
The forum was co-sponsored by the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the California Government, the International Finance Forum, China News Service, and the Energy Foundation. Participants discussed the global response to climate change and climate investment and financing, and believed that the Chinese role is indispensable in promoting global climate investment and financing.
The Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Espinosa, said that developed countries had promised to provide 100 billion U.S. dollars per year to developing countries by 2020 to help develop China’s national response to climate change, but the current investment and financing target Far from complete. Countries need to adopt various means such as finance and finance to fulfill their funding commitments as soon as possible. She also said that China has made active efforts in climate investment and financing and achieved good results.
Es Pinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, attended the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit Climate Investment and Financing Forum. The forum was co-sponsored by the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the California Government, the International Finance Forum, China News Service, and the Energy Foundation. Photo by Woodrow Chris
“China is a global leader in renewable energy investment and financing. China and California play a leading role in global clean energy investment. China’s leadership in this area is outstanding, which is very important for the global response to climate change.” Former US Vice President Gore said.
Former US Secretary of Energy and Professor of Stanford University Zhu Yiwen pointed out that China has world-leading technology in the field of new energy power generation such as hydropower and wind power. “China has a very good foundation for new energy generation. On this basis, the Chinese government has proposed the ‘13th Five-Year Plan, and has proposed ambitious plans for new energy.”
Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairman of the Global Environment Facility, said: “China’s urbanization is growing at a very fast pace. To make urban development more sustainable, the Chinese government has chosen pilot cities to develop more sustainable urban plans and mobilize corporate funds. Participating in construction is a case worth learning."
John Roome, senior director of climate change at the World Bank, said that in response to climate change, countries must “not only have environmental ministers to participate, but also finance ministers to participate” to achieve better climate investment and financing. He believes that China is a leader in global action on climate change, vigorously develops renewable energy, and promotes climate investment and financing practices, providing a good example for the world.
Michael Wilkins, managing director of Standard & Poor's Global Environment Finance, said China encourages more green financing and also proposes related tax breaks. All rating agencies have a positive rating on green bonds for Chinese companies, and the world market has been paying attention to China's efforts in green finance.
Yu Wei, editor of the China News Agency and director of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, pointed out that green investment is not only about creating social value, but is highly positively correlated with economic returns. In the long run, green investment can bring higher economic value. In recent years, China has rapidly transitioned from framework design to practice in green credit, green bonds, and green development funds. These rule-based, market-oriented green explorations have received positive responses from the market. In the future, there will be more achievements in the construction of green trading platforms and the preparation of green indices.
Matthew Arnold, managing director of global sustainable finance at JPMorgan Chase, said that the United States and China are fiercely competitive in climate investment and financing, and New York hopes to become a leader in sustainable green finance, comparable to Beijing and Shanghai. In dealing with climate change, China has played a leading role in many cases. The question now is how to go faster.
Dan Carol, senior adviser to Brown Governor of California, said that it is necessary for countries to cooperate actively in accordance with the relevant contents of the Paris Agreement. From the national level to the individual level, full participation from top to bottom can accelerate the global climate governance.
Liu Shuang, director of the Low Carbon Transformation Program of the Energy Foundation, said that China is becoming a global leader in green financing. “China has made great progress in green financing, but due to the challenges brought about by climate change, China needs to quickly mobilize more funds for climate investment.”
Zhang Jianyu, President and CEO of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, introduced the practice and case of ICBC's low carbon finance and climate investment and financing at the forum.
