China Urban Green Financing Forum Held to Spur Sustainable and Innovative Urban Investment
China Urban Green Financing Forum Held to Spur Sustainable and Innovative Urban Investment
The China Urban Green Financing Forum was held on July 5th by the Europe-China Eco Cities Link project (EC Link) in cooperation with the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) to establish a network of cities, expertise and financing institutions in implementing green investments collaboratively.
The forum was supported by the Delegation of the European Union to China and the Department of Building Energy-Saving and Technology at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD). It envisaged the network will help MoHURD and Chinese cities in promoting innovation in green finance products and structuring tools, the popularization of green finance and sustainable solutions for low-carbon urban financing.
“Moving to a green economy is now a central and strategic priority for both China and the EU”, said Chris Wood, Minister and Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to China. “Cities have a key role to play in the transition towards a low carbon, resource-efficient and sustainable future. However, cities will require financial means to achieve these.”
“Green finance and market-based mechanisms are both strategic and innovative tools to improve the complement of public and private resource allocation and contribute to the development of low carbon industries. The EU has been supporting cities in strengthening the potential to lead the low-carbon transition through better regulation, better funding and better knowledge sharing via various initiatives. As our long-standing partner, China will retain its crucial role, and the EU is committed to working with China towards a common green future”, Wood added.
China has committed as part of the Paris Agreement to bring carbon emissions to a plateau in or around 2030. Pushing ahead with urbanization, China expects to see more than one billion people — accounting for more than 70 percent of the country’s population — reside in cities by 2030, making the country home to the world’s largest urban population.
In order to keep to the its carbon commitment, green and low-carbon urban planning and policies will be essential. Cities, which contribute 70 percent of China’s total energy-related carbon emissions, present the greatest opportunity for meeting national and global climate targets, as well as the country’s long-term development strategy.
Director General Su Yunshan from MoHURD said that green financing plays a decisive role in promoting cities’ green development in particular in sectors of green transport, green building and clean energy.
“Promoting urban green financing relies on collaborative coordination among all departments under an effective and solid mechanism, and financing institutions should proactively explore new products and new cooperation based on cities’ real needs”, said DG Su who recognized the importance of EC-LINK in helping cities address new challenges in the rapid urbanization process.
Around 200 officials, professionals and entrepreneurs from the urban planning, environmental and financing sectors attended the forum, bringing deeper insights into urban green development issues and innovative sustainable green financing solutions and policies.
A number of international leading financing institutions and cities initiatives introduced their respective green financing tools and projects, with focus on how to develop and apply bankable projects in the Chinese cities’ context.
The EC-Link project is a key component of the EU-China Partnership on Sustainable Urbanization, launched in November 2013 with the aim of assisting Chinese cities in implementing energy and resource-efficient measures by sharing experiences in sustainable urbanization with cities in Europe.
More information on EC-Link and their various projects can be found here: http://eclink.org/en/
