International Green Bank Summit brings together global clean energy financing institutions

A two-day Green Bank summit concluded on Tuesday with international public-private financing organisations coming together to discuss best practices, share technical expertise and to strengthen the growing Green Bank network.

The purpose of the summit was to discuss how to advance emerging clean energy markets by harnessing commercial practices, mobilising private sector participation and adopting a common framework.

The Green Banks represented at the summit, which was hosted by NY Green Bank, collectively expect to deploy over US$15 billion in capital for investments in clean energy and energy efficiency projects, which could be leveraged to over US $40 billion total investment into global and local clean energy capital markets over the next five years.

Representatives at the summit included leadership from various clean energy financing organisations, private sector representatives who have been actively engaged in developing the Green Bank model and non-profit and non-government organisations that have also been active participants in the discussions around Green Bank developments.

Participant organisations included the UK Green Investment Bank, NY Green Bank, the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation, the Japanese Green Finance Organization, the Australian Clean Energy Finance Corporation, GreenTech Malaysia, the Connecticut Green Bank, the Hawaii GEMS Program and the New Jersey Energy Resiliency Bank. Other US States considering developing state-sponsored clean energy financing institutions were also in attendance.

At the conclusion of the summit, together, this group of clean energy financing institutions committed to providing guidance and technical support to states, countries and multilateral agencies interested in establishing similar clean energy financing vehicles. Participants agreed to reconvene for a 2015 International Green Bank Summit.

The global network of Green Banks is focused on accelerating the deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency.  The network will continue to work towards crowding-in private capital and to be a key driver of the commercial and efficient allocation of capital for deployment into global clean energy financing markets.

The global Green Bank network was established in 2013 by the UK Green Investment Bank, the first dedicated green bank in the world, with its first meeting held at their Edinburgh headquarters.