Investors Representing over $15 Trillion Call for U.S and International Action on Climate Change: Summary

Investors Representing over $15 Trillion Call for U.S and International Action on Climate Change: Summary
Full article available from Biofuels Journal.

Global investors have made a strong [linkstatement] ahead of climate negotiations in Cancun. “Take action now in the fight against global warming or risk economic disruptions far more severe than the recent financial crisis.”

The statement was signed by 259 investors from around the world including HSBC, public pension funds and state treasurers collectively worth over $15 trillion. They demand stronger policies at the national and international level to encourage investment in low carbon technologies on the grounds of climate change reducing GDP 20% by 2050 and the benefits that efficient use of resources can bring. The release of the statement was timed to precede climate change negotiations in Cancun beginning on November 29th to draw up a new treaty following the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol in 2010. It is expected that there will be no agreement reached in Cancun.

Chairman of the Institutional Investor Group on Climate Change and chief of Research and Strategy at the Danish pension fund ATP, Ole Beier Sørensen:
"Experiences from a number of countries around the world show how structured policies can bolster investor confidence, help ramp up renewable energy investments, bring technologies down the cost curve and thereby eventually strengthen their competitiveness.”

Global clean energy investments are increasing, but are far short of what the Bloomberg New Energy Finance and the World Economic Forum says is needed annually by 2020 to restrict warming to 2 degrees. Global investment is predicted to exceed $200 billion in 2010, $500 billion is the figure needed. North America is behind the rest of the world in this regard: for example the US invested $20.7 billion in renewable energy projects in 2009, Europe invested $43.7 billion and Asia invested $40.8 billion. Opposition in congress is a factor in this disparity, but perhaps the collective voice of these investors will help sway support here.

The statement recommends a range of policies to be adopted, ranging from green house gas reduction targets, to greater promotion of low carbon technology by governments to establishing climate change concerns as market forces. Wide scale adoption of these recommendations would be a boon to mitigating climate change and in turn to advancing green chemistry, but how much impact they have on the real world will be seen in Cancun.