Alliance set up to encourage green investment, financing

An alliance that aims to promote climate investment and financing as a tool that can help boost the country's climate process has been established in Beijing on Sunday, as the country forges ahead with pilot programs to tap the potential of the tool.

The alliance was jointly launched by China Beijing Green Exchange, Beijing Green Finance Association, and the 23 cities and districts where the climate investment and financing mechanism is being piloted, as well as other stakeholders including financial institutions and enterprises in the energy and environmental protection sector.

Wang Naixiang, president of China Beijing Green Exchange, said the alliance aims to form synergy in the country's climate investment and financing sector and promote climate investment and financing work in China in a collaborative manner.

The alliance will devote itself to actively exploring and expanding financing channels for enterprises and developing more financial products and services that can bring climate benefits, he said.

Another priority for the alliance is to beef up funding support for climate-friendly projects, he added.

The alliance will build itself into a national service platform for climate investment and financing, he said. It, for example, will regularly make public exemplary climate investment and financing cases, and also offer training programs themed on climate investment and financing.

In early August last year, nine national government bodies, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the National Development and Reform Commission, launched pilot programs for climate investment and financing in 23 cities and districts across the country, including Miyun and Tongzhou districts in Beijing and Taiyuan and Changzhi cities in Shanxi province.

At a news conference shortly after the list of pilot cities was announced, Liu Youbin, spokesman with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said the ministry, together with other relevant departments, will strive to explore a batch of climate investment and financing models in three to five years through the pilot programs.

It is hoped that some successful experiences in promoting climate investment and financing will be concluded and applied in other areas to facilitate the country's endeavor to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and realize carbon neutrality before 2060, he said.