Green banks unite to grow renewables investment globally

Six green banks and two non-profit groups announced Monday the establishment of a Green Bank Network to help speed up and boost renewables and energy efficiency investment globally.

The founding partners include the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB), the Connecticut Green Bank, NY Green Bank, the Green Fund (Japan), Malaysian Green Technology Corp and Clean Energy Finance Corp (CEFC) of Australia. The plan is to share and leverage individual bank experiences, grow the ranks of green banks worldwide and quickly expand the network.

“Billions of dollars of investment must be channeled into renewable energy and energy efficiency projects over the next 15-20 years if the nations of the world are to fulfil their climate pledges. The founding members of the Green Bank Network have impressive track records in drawing private capital to low-carbon infrastructure, but by building the first collaborative global clean energy finance platform we are sending out a signal that more can be achieved by working together,” said GIB CEO Shaun Kingsbury.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) will spearhead the network's creation, while ClimateWorks Foundation is to provide seed funding. Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will facilitate the sharing of experience between green banks and countries interested in creating them, building on the OECD-Bloomberg Philanthropies green banks policy guide that was also released on Monday.

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