The historic global agreement on climate change adopted in Paris last year helped open up nearly $23 trillion worth of investment opportunities for emerging markets like the Philippines between now and 2030.
Since the Paris Agreement was adopted in December, 2015, a total of 189 countries have submitted national plans that target aggressive growth in climate solutions — including renewable energy, low-carbon cities, energy efficiency, sustainable forest management, and climate-smart agriculture.
These plans, according to a study released by International Finance Corp., offer a clear roadmap for investments that will target climate-resilient infrastructure and offset higher upfront costs through efficiency gains and fuel savings.
IFC’s study, based on the national climate-change commitments and underlying policies of 21 emerging-market economies, identifies sectors in each region where the potential for investment is greatest.
This includes green buildings in East Asia and the Pacific — where China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam show a climate-smart investment potential of $16 trillion.
“There has never been a better time than now for climate-smart investing,” said IFC Executive Vice President Philippe Le Houérou.
“This reflects the dramatic reduction in the price of clean technologies and the rise of smart policies that are driving businesses to invest. In this context, it is important to set ambitious goals — which is why IFC has pledged to increase our climate investments to a goal of US$3.5 billion a year by 2020 and catalyze another US$13 billion through other investors,” he added.
The report also finds that government action will be critical to take advantage in order to unlock the full scale of investment potential.
It recommends that governments integrate national climate commitments into their development strategies and budget processes, strengthen the investment climate for climate-smart industries, and deploy public funds strategically to mobilize private capital — by reducing risk and providing project support, for example.
Just last month, the Philippines hosted Asia-Pacific Regional Forum on Health and Environment lead by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The forum is a convergence that will integrate efforts among countries for better environments and better health across all the goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
