Gateway to Think Tanks
来源类型 | COLUMN |
规范类型 | 其他 |
The Business Case for the Green Climate Fund | |
Ben Bovarnick; Alexander Tankou | |
发表日期 | 2015-04-02 |
出版年 | 2015 |
语种 | 英语 |
概述 | Investments in clean energy and climate resilience supported by the newly launched Green Climate Fund can be a boon for U.S. businesses and global economic growth. |
目录 | See also:
Since 2014, more than 30 countries have pledged support to launch the Green Climate Fund, or GCF, a new multilateral fund that will invest in projects that help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience to climate effects. More than $10 billion has been pledged by countries from both developed and developing regions for the fund’s preliminary capitalization. The Obama administration requested $500 million in the fiscal year 2016 federal budget as an initial contribution toward the $3 billion U.S. pledge. Now is the time for Congress to appropriate this initial contribution and continue the bipartisan legacy of multilateral climate finance. Investing in the GCF is in the United States’ interest for several reasons. First, as the Department of Defense has reported, climate change has the power to destabilize vulnerable regions and create space for the growth of extremism. Creating climate-resilient communities around the world therefore benefits U.S. national security interests by helping avert the need for costly military interventions. Investing in a low-carbon economy also improves domestic climate safety and economic security, as failure to rein in emissions would carry ever-rising costs for disaster recovery and adaptation. Already, extreme weather events cost the United States billions of dollars annually. In 2014, the United States experienced eight extreme weather events that each resulted in losses in excess of $1 billion. In addition to the above benefits, a successful GCF would support business interests in the United States and around the world. GCF investments would not only work to reduce the negative effects of climate change that threaten American companies’ operations but would also open new markets for private-sector engagement by providing specific opportunities for new investment and exports through its projects. Reducing business risks through global climate investmentRising global emissions threaten U.S. business interests by increasing the frequency and severity of the effects of climate change. This threat is compounded by underinvestment in global resilience. A Carbon Disclosure Project survey of public companies from 2011 to 2013 found that major U.S. companies are already experiencing costs associated with climate change. To take several examples:
Meanwhile, major American companies, including Coca-Cola and Heinz, have begun to list climate change among the risks posed to their businesses in their annual Security and Exchange Commission filings. Starwood Hotels, owner of Westin, Sheraton, and other properties, projects that it could potentially incur an approximate $10 million to $20 million increase in annual cooling costs alone, based on International Energy Agency climate change projections. By investing in projects and programs that reduce global emissions and increase global climate resilience, the GCF will help protect U.S. businesses and their increasingly globalized operations. Opening new markets through developmentThe GCF is dedicated to implementing projects across diverse regions and in countries that are particularly vulnerable, including the least developed countries, African states, and small-island developing nations. This kind of implementation ensures that investment gains will not be confined to the middle-income countries—such as Brazil, India, and Mexico—that have been the primary beneficiaries to date of multilateral climate investments. By spurring development in regions that are currently seen as too risky for significant private-sector investment, the fund’s activities will open new markets for U.S. business engagement. Supporting projects that benefit American companiesThe Climate Investment Funds, or CIF, are precursors to the GCF launched during the George W. Bush administration. CIF projects to address that climate change benefited American companies directly through investment and export opportunities. It is likely that similar or even enhanced benefits will result from the GCF, which, as a core part of the fund, includes a “Private Sector Facility” that is devoted to mobilizing private investment. Several examples of companies that have benefited from the CIF are described below. These businesses represent only a small selection of companies that have benefited; others include AECOM and Johnson Controls.
When the GCF begins to receive the funding pledged by the United States and others, it can start building on the CIF and support new investments in clean energy and climate resilience. As climate change subjects the world to increasingly severe and unpredictable weather events, these crucial investments can help protect U.S. businesses, while simultaneously opening up new opportunities for private-sector engagement. Ben Bovarnick is a Research Assistant with the Energy Policy team at the Center for American Progress. Alexander Tankou is an intern at the Center. Thank you to Gwynne Tarasaka, Senior Policy Advisor for Energy at the Center, for her contributions to this column. |
主题 | Energy and Environment |
URL | https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2015/04/02/110396/the-business-case-for-the-green-climate-fund/ |
来源智库 | Center for American Progress (United States) |
资源类型 | 智库出版物 |
条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.153/handle/2XGU8XDN/438402 |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Ben Bovarnick,Alexander Tankou. The Business Case for the Green Climate Fund. 2015. |
条目包含的文件 | 条目无相关文件。 |
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