The Green Finance Revolution
The green technology sector is expected to grow to over $2 trillion
annually by 2020—nearly a $1.5 trillion increase from 2007. Where will
investments of this magnitude come from? Finance is one of the most
serious and under-appreciated constraints on rapid green economic
development. Widespread deployment of existing technologies can achieve
the goal of global emissions peaking in 2020 and keeping temperature
increases below 2°C. But investment volumes need to triple in order to
get there.
There is no single solution, but it is clear that the US and China will
play leadership roles in scaling up green finance. The two economies
have striking complementarities, with the US strong in innovation and
China strong in pilot testing and manufacturing. The US has the
financial mechanisms and China has the cash reserves. But coordinating
efforts to scale green finance represents an opportunity that is barely
tapped to date.
In May 2010, Asia Society Northern California, in partnership
with the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, the Bay Area Council
and the US-China Clean Energy Forum, will gather leading financiers,
businesses, and analysts from the US and China to discuss these and
other questions:
- How do the green finance players and playing fields differ in
the US and China?
- How does the cleantech revolution challenge traditional finance mechanisms? How must these mechanisms adapt?
- What impact has the global recession had on the process and
availability of finance for green projects and technologies?
- What is the impact on the cleantech sectors of the U.S. and
Chinese economic stimulus plans?
- Given the deep uncertainties in the cleantech regulatory
environment and the limits of government finance, particularly in the
US, where will long-term investment come from? How can the private
sector navigate such uncertainty?
What new and innovative financing mechanisms are being developed
and deployed in the two countries?
How can China and the US leverage each other's strengths to
massively scale global green finance?
Speakers: Jack Wadsworth, Bruce Pickering, etc.