Climate change investment falls for second year in 2013

(planet-ark, 24 Nov 2014) Global investment in tackling climate change fell for a second year in 2013 to $331 billion, largely due to a drop in the cost of solar power technology, according to an annual report on climate finance.

Overall, the world is falling further and further behind its low-carbon investment goals, warned the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), a research and advisory group.

"Our analysis shows that global investment in a cleaner, more resilient economy is decreasing, and the gap between finance needed and actually delivered is growing," said Barbara Buchner, senior director of CPI.


"As policymakers prepare a new global climate agreement in 2015, climate finance is a key ingredient to bring the world on a 2-degree Celsius pathway," she said.

Private investment totaled $193 billion in 2013, dropping 14 percent ($31 billion) from 2012. Climate finance from public sources stayed steady at around $137 billion.

The report described lower costs for solar photovoltaic systems as positive, because they boosted solar energy deployment. Without the drop in costs, 2013 solar deployment would have resulted in an increase of $12 billion in climate finance flows from 2012 rather than a decrease of $28 billion.

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planet-ark, 24 Nov 2014: Climate change investment falls for second year in 2013