U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivers remarks at the Climate and Clean Energy Investment Forum at the State Department in Washington, Oct. 20, 2015. (Photo : Reuters)
Michael Liebrich, the founder and chair of the advisory board of Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), said on Wednesday, Jan. 27, that China is the "rock star" of clean energy investment.
BNEF published an article showing that universal clean energy investments hit a record high last year, with China being the major contributor, Xinhua reported.
Liebrich said, "I described (China) in my remarks earlier as the rock star of clean energy investment as they really are now top by a pretty substantial margin."
According to Liebrich, China invested $110 billion out of the $330 billion invested in clean energy in 2015, a little bit more than the United States that came second by investing $57 billion.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg were among the speakers at the "Investor Summit on Climate Risk: Advancing the Clean Trillion."
According to the Global Times, the summit brought together investors and world leaders to establish ways of increasing investment in clean energy to $1 trillion yearly, which is necessary to keep global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius.
Liebrich said that he was confident that China would continue contributing toward increasing investment in clean energy amid economic transition, as evident from the five-year plan. He noted that it was a positive sign to see increased investment in clean energy in 2015 despite challenging circumstances.
Liebrich added, "For the clean energy sector sustained low oil and gas prices are concerning, there's no question."
Furthermore, Liebrich pointed out that positive signs like the new Paris climate change agreement signed in December show that there are high possibilities of investments in green energy again reaching new records this year.
The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, told journalists about the increasing chances for investors to do good and well at the same time. She acknowledged having seen a shifting understanding of what fiduciary obligation comprises.
Figueres added: "It is not about a quarterly result. It is about the long-term stability of the economy and of the industry as a whole."
