ResilienceGlobal climate finance increases to $391 billion
A new report about the world’s inventory of climate finance shows that more money than ever before — at least $391 billion — was invested in low-carbon and climate-resilient actions in 2014. Private actors invested $243 billion in renewable energies, a surge of 26 percent from 2013, which resulted in record solar PV and onshore wind deployment. Public finance reached at least $148 billion continuing its steady growth over the past three years. Also, 74 percent of total climate finance ($290 billion) and 92 percent ($222 billion) of private investment was raised and spent in the same country. The domestic preference of climate finance highlights the importance of domestic investment policy and support frameworks.
Climate Policy Initiative’s Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2015 shows global investment in activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and climate vulnerability grew from $331 billion in 2013 to $391 billion in 2014, thanks to steady increases in public finance and a surge in private investment in renewable energy technologies.
Of the finance captured by the Landscape 2015, $292 billion paid for renewable energy. With falling costs for some technologies, these investments are achieving more impact than ever before.
Climate Policy Initiative says that adaptation finance reached $25 billion, or 17 percent, of all public climate finance in 2014. On par with last year’s results, this is a partial and uncertain estimate due to different accounting approaches and major data gaps for tracking private adaptation finance. Development finance institutions were the biggest single source of global climate finance, providing $131 billion, or 33 percent, of total climate finance flows. Project developers and corporate actors outside the energy sector were the second and third biggest sources with $92 billion (24 percent) and $58 billion (15 percent) respectively.
“Two weeks out from the international climate negotiations in Paris, our analysis demonstrates that countries around the world are investing to drive their own economic growth and development. Overwhelmingly, it is national self-interest that is driving climate action,” said Barbara Buchner, Senior Director of Climate Policy Initiative and lead author of the study. She added, “The numbers also show that while global investment in a cleaner more resilient economy is growing, so too is the investment gap between what is required for reducing emissions to within agreed limits and what is being delivered. Even greater effort and geographic spread is needed to deliver investments consistent with the 2°C global temperature goal.”
— Read more in Barbara Buchner et al., Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2015 (Climate Policy Initiative, November 2015)
