Major New Report Makes the Case for China as a Global Green Finance Leader

Jay OwenReforming Global Finance, Global Citizen

China has firmly established itself as a global leader on green finance, with both domestic policies and international leadership bringing real progress. Establishing China’s Green Financial System: Progress Report – co-authored by the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) of the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), and the UN Environment Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System – reviews China’s development in green finance and offers recommendations for future development.

The report finds that China – which put green finance on the G20 agenda during its 2016 presidency – is following through on its political commitment to boost the financing required to do this. The report looks particularly at progress since the State Council approved in August 2016 a set of recommendations for action on greening China’s financial system.

The report identifies many specific advances, including:

  • China has become a new growth driver in the global green bonds market. In the first half of 2017, China issued 36 green bonds worth RMB77.67 billion (US$11.7 billion).
  • Many provinces and cities have established regional green development funds. By the end of 2016, 265 green funds were registered of which 215 were green industry funds. Some 121 of these were established in 2016.
  • By the end of June 2017, 7,826 green and low-carbon projects, with a total investment of US$0.96 trillion (yes, you read that right, just under 1 trillion dollars), were included in the national public-private partnerships projects catalogue, accounting for 57.7 per cent of the projects.

This wraps up the Inquiry’s mammoth week when we launched four papers in four days across two continents, which showcases huge progress and opportunities in sustainable finance. We will be back next week with more updates. Till then, have a great (early) weekend!