Energy efficiency
09 December 2015
As world leaders gather to discuss global action on climate change, a group of six green banks and two leading non-profit groups today announced they are establishing a Green Bank Network to help meet the urgent need of increasing and accelerating investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency worldwide.
Green banks are public entities created to partner with the private sector to increase investment in clean energy and bring clean energy financing into the mainstream. They are a relatively new phenomenon that has been successful in the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and several U.S. states.
The founding partners of this major clean energy initiative are the UK Green Investment Bank, the Connecticut Green Bank, NY Green Bank, the Green Fund (Japan), Malaysian Green Technology Corporation and Clean Energy Finance Corporation (Australia), and the network plans to expand rapidly.
The banks have appointed the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC), which are experienced in the development of green banks, to spearhead the creation of the network. ClimateWorks Foundation has agreed to provide seed funding.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will use its convening power to facilitate the sharing of experience between green banks and countries interested in creating them, building on the OECD-Bloomberg Philanthropies green banks policy guide released today.
With nations around the world making new commitments to reducing heat-trapping pollution, more capital than ever will need to be deployed for clean energy solutions. Green banks can help stimulate the private investments necessary for nations to meet their commitments.
The network will increase the global impact of green banks by enabling them to collaborate more effectively, share and leverage individual bank experiences, publicize achievements and grow the ranks of green banks worldwide.
The UK Green Investment Bank is now the most active investor in the UK’s renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors. Financing initiatives by the Australian Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) are delivering least-cost emissions reductions, contributing to economic resilience and competitiveness. The Connecticut Green Bank has nearly quadrupled annual clean energy investment and deployment in that state in three years. NY Green Bank, the largest green bank in the U.S. and one of the newer green banks, is providing market transformative financing solutions to advance solar, wind, and residential energy efficiency.
Green banks represented at a summit in New York last year said they collectively expected to deploy over $40 billion in capital for investments in clean energy and energy efficiency projects over the next five years.
Shaun Kingsbury,
Chief Executive, UK Green Investment Bank
Governer Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor, New York
Governer Dannel P. Malloy
Governor of Connecticut
Reed Hundt
CEO, Coalition of Green Capital
Shelley Poticha
Director of Urban SOlutions, NRDC
Oliver Yates
CEO, CECF
Ir. Ahmad Hadri Haris
CEO, GreenTech Malaysia
Bryan Garcia
President and CEO, Connecticut Green Bank
Alfred Griffin
President, NY Green Bank
Angel Gurría
OECD Secretary General
Media enquiries
About Connecticut Green Bank
The Connecticut Green Bank (formerly the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority) was established by the Connecticut General Assembly on July 1, 2011 as a part of Public Act 11-80. As the nation's first full-scale green bank, it is leading the clean energy finance movement by leveraging public and private funds to scale-up renewable energy deployment and energy efficiency projects across Connecticut.
The Green Bank's success in accelerating private investment in clean energy is helping Connecticut create jobs, increase economic prosperity, promote energy security and address climate change.
About NY Green Bank
NY Green Bank is a $1 billion State-sponsored specialized financial entity working in partnership with the private sector to identify, address, and alleviate market barriers preventing the widespread deployment of clean energy across New York State. NY Green Bank uses demonstrated financing tools to promote self-sustaining markets, while enabling private sector capital providers to expand the frontiers of current commercial clean energy investment opportunities.
About Clean Energy Finance Corporation
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) invests using a commercial approach to overcome market barriers and mobilize investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and low emissions technologies. Since its inception, the CEFC has committed over $1.4 billion in finance to investments in clean energy projects valued at over $3.5 billion. The CEFC invests for a positive financial return, with more than 55 direct investments. These projects help to improve energy productivity for businesses across Australia, develop local industries and generate new employment opportunities.
The CEFC operates under the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act 2012.
www.cleanenergyfinancecorp.com.au
About GreenTech Malaysia
Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (GreenTech Malaysia) is an organization under the purview of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water Malaysia, charged with the development and promotion of green technology as one of Malaysia's strategic engines for socio-economic growth.
About the Coalition for Green Capital
The Coalition for Green Capital is a non-profit organization, helps states and nation-states to create and run financing institutions aimed at increasing public-private investment in the new clean power platform. Founded by Reed Hundt and Ken Berlin in 2009, CGC now has the support of major environmental foundations and is working in more than a dozen states in the United States as well as at the international level.
About the Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing.
About the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.