On December 10 (local time in Madrid), China Climate Investment and Finance Forum was held at the 25th UN Climate Change Conference. The Forum was co-hosted by the Department of Climate Change of The Ministry of Ecology and Environment and CIFA, which fully demonstrated the “Chinese story” in climate investment and finance and China’s contributions to the world in this regard. Representatives from governments, enterprises, think tanks, financial institutions, industry associations etc., jointly discussed how to further promote the development of climate investment and finance in China through policy coordination and financial innovation. This is the fourth consecutive “China Climate Investment and Finance Forum” held by China during the UN Climate Change Conference.

Zhao Yingmin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and Laura Tuck, Vice President of the World Bank were invited to attend the conference and delivered opening speeches.

Vice Minister Zhao Yingmin pointed out that in order to fully fulfill its international commitment to address climate change, China needs to provide substantial investment during the process, which requires financial support. Therefore, China has attached great importance to and vigorously supported the development of climate investment and finance, and continuously improved and developed the financial mechanism to tackle climate change. He put forward four requirements for climate investment and finance. The first is to strengthen research on and improve climate change investment and finance mechanism, especially to accelerate the launch of local pilot projects of climate investment and finance. The second is to enhance the coordination of climate benefits with economic and environmental benefits. The third is tostrengthen the role of market mechanisms. The fourth is to strengthen international cooperation and exchanges.

Laura Tuck, Vice President of the World Bank, delivering an opening speech.

During the keynote speech, six honored guests elaborated on the innovative development of climate investment and finance from their respective professional perspectives, including Li Gao, Director of the Department of Climate Change and Director of CIFA, Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director of GCF, Yu Honghui, General Manager of the CECEP Group, Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Yan Youzhong, Director and Chief Compliance Officer of Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department of ADB, and Mechthild Wörsdörfer, Director of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks of the International Energy Agency(IEA). Zhu Liyang, Director of the Resources and Environment Business Department of China International Engineering Consulting Corporation and Deputy Director of CIFA, served as the host of the keynote speech.

Director Li Gao reviewed the progress made in China’s climate investment and finance from three aspects: gradual improvement of systems and mechanisms, initial cohesion of policy coordination and the successful establishment of a professional platform, and proposed three key works for the next stage: to accelerate the establishment of standard systems for climate investment and finance policies, promote the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions with the help of climate investment and finance and support innovation in mechanisms, models, and products of climate investment and finance. He expressed his hope that CIFA, promoted by the Department of Climate Change, together with the People’s Bank of China, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance, may serve as a platform to connect the industry and finance, make finance policiesmore adaptable to the environmental-friendly industry and related projects, and serve as a communication platform to deepen international cooperation.

General Manager Yu Honghui shared with the participants the remarkable achievements China Energy Conservationhas made in addressing climate change in terms of policy research, think tank construction, and international cooperation. He pointed out that climate investment and finance play a key role in actively responding to climate change and promoting low-carbon transition and development. In the context of resource and environment constraints and the global low-carbon transition, actively advocating and promoting the establishment of a climate investment and finance system is not only the internal requirements for China to improve economic quality and benefit, and achieve green and sustainable development, but also the inevitable choice to implement new development concepts and build ecological civilization.He indicated that under the guidance of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China Energy Conservation will fully support CECEP Consulting Co., Ltd. to do a good job as the secretariat of CIFA, promote the cooperative innovation among financial institutions, research institutions and enterprises, and provide decision-making basis and technical support for government agencies to formulate policies related to climate investment and finance.

Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director of GCF, giving a speech entitled “Climate Investment and Finance Practice of GCF and Relevant Cooperation with China”.

Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of GEF, giving a speech entitled “Climate Investment and Finance Practice of GEF and Implications for China”.

Yan Youzhong, Director and Chief Compliance Officer of Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department of ADB, delivering a speech entitled “ADB and Climate Investment and Finance”.

Mechthild Wörsdörfer, Director of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks of IEA, delivering a speech entitled “Climate Investment and Finance and Energy Mix Transformation”

Zhu Liyang, Director of the Resources and Environment Business Department of China International Engineering Consulting Corporation, and Deputy Director of CIFA, serving as the host of the keynote speech.

The round-table discussion was chaired by Sun Yiting, Standing Committee Member of CIFA. Focusing on “ Climate Investment and Finance Innovation Boosting Low-carbon Transition of Enterprises”, six guests exchanged and shared practical experience and policy recommendations in promoting climate investment and finance, including Liao Yuan, General Manager of CECEP Consulting Co., Ltd., Deputy Secretary-General of CIFA, Michael Wilkins, Managing Director of S & P Global Ratings and Chief of Global Sustainable Finance, Yang Kaiyu, Deputy General Manager of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Europe)S.A.,Wang Yao, Dean of the International Institute of Green Finance of the Central University of Finance and Economics, Liu Qiang, Director of the Beijing Representative Office of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (UK), and Lian Xirui, CEO of Sichuan Lvdoya Information Technology Co. Ltd.