{"id":15195,"date":"2016-01-27T22:18:07","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T22:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=15195"},"modified":"2018-04-22T12:01:34","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T16:01:34","slug":"ban-global-investors-must-play-full-role-in-shift-to-clean-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2016\/01\/ban-global-investors-must-play-full-role-in-shift-to-clean-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ban: Global investors must play full role in shift to clean energy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>More than 500 global investors gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York today to mobilize the trillions of dollars needed to move the world onto the path of clean energy, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sg\/\">Secretary-General<\/a> Ban Ki-moon challenging them to, at a minimum, double clean energy investments to $660 billion by 2020.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarkets now have the clear signal they need to unleash the full force of human ingenuity and scale up investments that can generate low-emissions resilient growth,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sg\/statements\/index.asp?nid=9421\">said<\/a>, speaking just days after scientists confirmed that 2015 was the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wmo.int\/media\/content\/2015-hottest-year-record#overlay-context=fr\/content\/l\u2019omm-confirme-2015-est-lann\u00e9e-la-plus-chaude-jamais-enregistr\u00e9e\">hottest year on record<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe world now counts on you to act at the speed and scale needed to transform the global economy. To keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees, and even 1.5 degrees, we must begin the shift away from fossil fuels immediately. We need a massive scaling up of investments in clean energy and energy efficiency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Organized by the non-profit Ceres, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Foundation and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Office for Partnerships, the all-day meeting sought to catalyze a global shift toward exponentially cleaner energy fast enough to meet the long-term objective of December\u2019s Paris <a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.unfccc.int\/unfccc-newsroom\/finale-cop21\/\">climate accord<\/a> to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero to avoid dangerous climate warming.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2015, clean energy investments stood at around $330 billion dollars, more than six times higher than in 2004. This is a good down-payment, but far less than the \u201cclean trillion\u201d needed annually throughout the coming decades to keep temperature rise to acceptable levels and limit the risks from climate change,\u201d Mr. Ban said, laying out five steps for the investor action.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>National climate plans of developing countries must be financed, with institutional investors particularly well placed to provide the significant amounts of capital needed.<\/li>\n<li>Pension funds must use their influence as investors and shareholders to accelerate the rapid de-carbonization of the economy.<\/li>\n<li>The banking sector must continue scaling up the green bond market while changing its lending practices to support green investments, reflecting the growing risk in the brown economy.<\/li>\n<li>The insurance industry must strengthen climate resilience and disaster risk reduction efforts, especially in the most vulnerable countries.<\/li>\n<li>Investors need to know how the impacts of climate change can affect specific companies, sectors and financial markets as a whole, with clearer disclosure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cInvestors and businesses that redirect resources to low-carbon, climate-resilient growth will be the economic powerhouses of the 21st century,\u201d Mr. Ban concluded. \u201cThose that fail to do so will be on the losing side of history. Every decision on investment and resource allocation must be part of the solution. Every dollar must be invested in low-carbon goods and services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe private sector is the engine that will drive the climate solutions we need to reduce climate risks, end energy poverty and create a safer, more prosperous future for this and future generations. Each of you has a major role to play,\u201d said the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ chief.<\/p>\n<div id=\"EmbedPhotoLeft\">For her part, Mindy Lubber, President of Ceres and director of its Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR)<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ceres.org\/press\/press-releases\/500-global-investors-managing-trillions-mobilize-action-in-wake-of-paris-climate-agreement\">said<\/a> investors are better positioned than ever before to address climate risks and seize the economic opportunities presented by clean energy.<\/div>\n<p>\u201cUltimately, global investment portfolios need to shift far more capital to low-carbon business activity and away from risky high carbon sectors that may perform poorly in the years ahead,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Lubber called on all investors globally to set ambitious clean energy investment commitments; establish clear goals for reducing carbon risk exposure in their portfolios; encourage regulators worldwide to implement mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements; and to continue advocating for policies such as economically meaningful carbon pricing and ending fossil fuel subsidies.<\/p>\n<div id=\"myCarousel\" class=\"carousel slide\">\n<div class=\"carousel-caption\">\n<p>\u201dCities and businesses recognize the economic benefits that come with fighting climate change, and they&#8217;re setting a great example by establishing clear goals and measuring the impact of their work,\u201d said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, three-term Mayor of New York City, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary General\u2019s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, and chair of the Financial Stability Board&#8217;s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, who joined a discussion on climate risk disclosure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201dThe more reliable information investors have about climate change, the easier it is for them to make informed decisions, and that will help drive more financing to projects that reduce carbon pollution and promote sustainable economic growth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/wp.me\/p5Mdaw-3WD\" target=\"_blank\">Read Ban&#8217;s full remarks here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/apps\/news\/story.asp?NewsID=53101#.Vqk8CfkrLcs\" target=\"_blank\">Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ News Centre<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 500 global investors gathered at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Headquarters to mobilize the trillions of dollars needed to move the world onto the path of clean energy, with Ban Ki-moon challenging them to, at a minimum, double clean energy investments to $660 billion by 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4,30],"tags":[472,3678,5583,144,261,5571],"class_list":["post-15195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climate-change","category-news","category-secretary-general","tag-ban-ki-moon","tag-business","tag-clean-energy","tag-climate-change","tag-energy","tag-investor-summit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}