SAN FRANCISCO – In March, Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) hosted the workshop “The Potential for Scaling Innovative Climate Finance in China,” in collaboration with the German Society for International Cooperation in China (GIZ China). This workshop was part of a broader project supported by the Hewlett Foundation, which aims to build on CPI’s experience to catalyze further climate investment in China.

Speakers included Yiting Sun, Standing Committee Member of the Climate Investment and Finance Association (CIFA), Shanning Dong, Director of Green Finance at the Bank of Jiangsu, and Marilyn Waite, Program Officer in Environment at the Hewlett Foundation.

The workshop presented the key findings from CPI’s report Scaling Climate Finance in China. China is one of the largest providers of climate finance and green finance globally, and its action in the next decade will play a decisive role in meeting the global target of keeping warming below 1.5° C. However, while China’s green finance contributions are significant, there remains a clear investment gap: the current level of finance will need to scale up by 3-4 times, from USD 320 billion to USD 1.4 trillion annually.

The workshop also showcased three financial instruments incubated by the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, CPI’s financial innovation incubator, with potential for replication in China: Cooling as s Service (CaaS), the Breathe Better Bond Initiative and the Restoration Insurance Service Company (RISCO). The Lab has proven to be an effective model to mobilize capital and part of its success has been its approach to bring together the public and the private sectors. In China, the Lab model could help catalyze more financial innovation and mobilize significantly more investments.

“China is crucial to the global effort to scale the flow of capital at the levels needed to address climate change. The trillions needed are beyond the reach of any single country but – given the size of China’s economy and its increasing investment and policy influence at home and abroad – globally we cannot achieve the necessary levels of climate investment without China,” said Dr. Barbara Buchner, CPI’s Global Managing Director, who hosted the workshop.