POWERING SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION » Policy and Economy

Standard Chartered Bank: Sustainable Finance

Standard Chartered Bank — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:18:31 +0000

The environmental, economic and social costs of climate change are well known. Their impacts are becoming increasingly evident, especially in those countries that have limited capacity to mitigate against, and adapt to, the key risks associated with climate change.

At Standard Chartered we recognise that as a leading international bank we have an exceptional ability and responsibility to contribute to the long-term sustainability of our planet. By far the biggest impact we have on society and our environment is through our support for the business activities of our clients. Our financing decisions – who and what we finance – enable us to make our strongest contribution to sustainable development. We seek to lead by example and we work with clients who share our commitment to driving sustainable economic growth, and protecting the environment.

At the WFES, Standard Chartered Bank will host the “Standard Chartered Future Theatre” for the third time running, where renewable energy experts from world over will discuss and debate developments and case studies from the renewable energy and clean tech sector. Led by Standard Chartered’s Renewable Energy & Environmental Finance team, well known for their leading role in principal finance, mergers and acquisitions, equity raising, advising, financing renewable and green energy deals, the Future Theatre program offers delegates a unique insight into the latest trends and “hot” sectors like nuclear energy, solar power and carbon capture and storage (“CCS), key global issues like water-energy nexus and financing-related topics like the M&A outlook for the industry.

The Standard Chartered Future Theatre is open to all exhibition and conference delegates free of charge.

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Greenhouse gas emissions targets diluted at APEC

Ludovica Sarram — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:20:48 +0000

COP15 seems to be facing hurdles. At the just held APEC summit, leaders agreed that a binding global-warming agreement at the summit was unrealistic. Also, the previously made pledge to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 has been scrapped on grounds of being “very controversial”. APEC includes the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters, China and the United States, who are disputing how to split responsibility for combating climate change as the Copenhagen summit (COP15) gets closer.

COP15 is where leaders from nearly 200 countries will set a deadline to devise a new treaty as the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. However, it now seems like the much awaited COP15 meeting is merely going to be the “staging post” and not the end point in the search for a global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The importance of summits like the COP15 and WFES cannot be undermined. They are both in their own way critical instruments in taking the climate change issue to a level that will lead to achievable solutions.

You can follow updates on the COP15 summit blog here and find out more about the WFES 2010 summit programme, here.

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Countdown to Copenhagen: What needs to be achieved?

The WFES Team — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:01:42 +0000

2009 has been a critical year in the international effort to address climate change, one that will end with a major UN conference in Copenhagen (December 8-17). The conference’s aim is to reach a global agreement to tackle climate change in light of the fact that the current Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reinforced at the G8 Summit: “We must seal the deal in Copenhagen for a global agreement which can address climate change issues.” In context of the same, the G8 Summit declaration reiterates the participating countries willingness to share the goal of achieving at least a 50 per cent reduction of global emissions by 2050. Also, at the recent UN general assembly meeting, China announced its commitment to curb carbon emissions and invest in green energy.

Paying attention to the various talks taking place across the world at the highest levels, the threat posed by climate change cannot be made clearer. The path forward, however, is not so clear. How much are industrialized countries willing to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases? How is the help needed by developing countries, to reduce their emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, going to be financed?

Energy and the environment are both critical elements of everyday life. We are all stakeholders in this concern and we welcome your thoughts.

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Hurdles to climate change negotiations: When will we cross over them?

The WFES Team — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:03:00 +0000

“There is no plan B. If we do not realise plan A, we go straight to plan F which stands for failure,” said Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjejiva. “The situation is a little desperate, and time is slipping through our fingers,” Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc told AFP in an interview.

What is plan A? How long do we have to sort things out and stay out of danger? Difficult questions that are being tackled at multiple high-level climate change talks like the recent UN Climate Summit in New York, the G8 Summit in L’Aquila, and the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh.

Up until next week in Bangkok is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the second last session before COP15 in Copenhagen in December. Informally known as the Earth Summit, the UNFCCC treaty is an environmental treaty aimed at stabilizing green house gas in the atmosphere, to a level that will prevent interference with the climate system that is generated by human activities. It is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

Other than green-house-gas emissions, another critical problem is the public and private capital needed to move things forward. The UNFCCC has estimated that by 2020, the cost of alleviating us from and adapting to climate change will escalate to US$200 billion, and be US$100 billion per year. In addition to this, according to the IEA, public finance is crucial for mobilizing the estimated US$1.5 trillion in annual private sector investment needed to boost the clean energy economy.

How is this going to be made possible? During all these top-level talks between countries, has anything been agreed upon? Does everything rely on COP15?

One thing is for certain, nothing can be solved with COP15 alone. Improving the environment and progressing the renewable energy agenda is an ongoing challenge, and is not going to be solved overnight. We hope that WFES will ensure the dialogue is continued and further solutions found.

China’s commitment to renewables : Walking the talk

The WFES Team — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:58:39 +0000

Often referred to as the “workshop of the world”, China has been criticised as its booming economy increases its demand for electricity and industrial resources. The country has one-fifth of the world’s population but over the last few years its emissions have exceeded those of the US. Greenpeace recently reported that large companies in China’s emit as much CO2 in a year as the United Kingdom; China should introduce green taxes on coal and carbon emissions, they say.

Amidst press like this, it’s a real shame that China’s efforts to create a clean energy economy are so often sidelined. While China may overall produce the most emissions, per-capita emissions in the US are still the highest in the world today. Chinese leaders rightly believe that they should not have to mop up the damage that was created largely by the West, much before the China’s industrial drive accelerated.

China is one of the 48 countries in the world that has implemented laws for renewable energy development. It has promised to cut down energy consumption by 20 per cent by the end of 2010, and is expected to reveal a stimulus package of about $660 billion devoted to alternative energy development over the next 10 years – initiatives and investments that are a result of China’s in-depth understanding of climate change as a threat to its own prosperity. The China presence at WFES is also poised to be significantly larger than at the last edition with some of their key initiatives in renewables expected to be showcased at the event.

- The WFES Team

Obama’s investing in a clean-energy economy: can it really dig us out of the trench?

The WFES Team — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:31:04 +0000

Since Obama took office there seems to be ceaseless focus on the “green economy”. The US President considers clean energy fuels key to boosting the economy and has allocated $60 billion of his stimulus package to building a renewable energy economy and cutting green-house emissions. His government also recently announced $3 billion in government grants and over $30 billion in loans to encourage renewable energy projects in the country, while also pledging investment of $150 billion over the next 10 years, to propel energy innovation. Of course, huge investments do not come without huge debates. The “real” contribution of green jobs , the legitimacy of the “Apollo Alliance”, and the general shift towards clean energy being a key solution to fixing the global warming crisis and the recession, are still hot button conversation topics.

Be that as it may, members of the WFES team based in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere across the world, are very proud to be working on this show. We feel WFES makes a strong contribution to the search for and deployment of energy solutions that impact mankind’s existence on planet earth – the fact that this may contribute to the process of economic recovery, is an added bonus.

Posted by: The WFES team