UNEP Releases Report on Investment in Mitigation

3 December 2008: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released an advance copy of “Public Finance Mechanisms to Mobilise Investment in Climate Change Mitigation.” UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, under its Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative, commissioned the report as a contribution to the UNFCCC Secretariat Technical Paper “Investment and Financial Flows to Address Climate Change: An Update.”

In response to the original forecast in “Financial Flows to Address Climate Change,” that the majority of the US$200-210 billion required annually to meet emissions reduction targets will need to come from the private sector, this report assesses how public monies can leverage commercial financing, offers scaling-up and replication strategies, and identifies how Public Finance Mechanisms (PFMs) might fit into a UNFCCC financial framework. Drawing on experience in the energy efficiency and renewable energy financing arenas in both developing and developed countries, the report suggests that PFMs can be used to help overcome market barriers, but need to be nimble and complemented by national policy. The report estimates that US$10 billion in public monies could leverage US$50-150 billion. [The Report]