Taiwan promotes APEC Green Energy Finance Initiative

2016/08/24

Taiwan recently hosted the Conference on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Green Energy Finance, playing a central role in promoting the financial sustainability of renewable energy while paving the way for the establishment of a low carbon economy throughout the APEC region.

Staged Aug. 18-19 in Taipei City by the Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the conference served as a platform for exchanging related best practices, experiences and policies. It attracted around 150 representatives from local and overseas energy companies, financial institutions, international organizations and public sectors, including the Asian Development Bank, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and World Energy Council.

“In light of the increasing challenges posed by climate change and energy security, we have witnessed astonishing investment growth in green energy worldwide,” MOEA Minister Lee Chih-kung said at the opening of the conference, adding that ensuring financial sustainability in the energy sector is key to achieving energy security and green energy transformation in the APEC region.

According to the bureau, conference representatives reached a consensus on improving the participation of banks and capital markets in green energy finance, as well as prioritizing the role of public-private partnerships in the development of new green energy projects. These outcomes will be submitted as guidelines for future regional cooperation at the Energy Working Group meeting scheduled for October in Moscow, the bureau said.

The growing demand for green energy finance is illustrated by such international undertakings as the Equator Principles, a voluntary approach to environmentally sustainable finance. Established in 2003, this risk management framework for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risk in projects has been adopted by 84 financial institutions in 35 countries and territories.

Taiwan proposed the APEC Green Energy Finance Initiative at the 2015 APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting in Cebu, the Philippines. Co-sponsored by Australia, Japan, Thailand and the U.S., the initiative is seen as essential in harmonizing green energy finance policies and dialogues between financial institutions in the APEC region.

The MOEA has embarked on a comprehensive clean-energy development program designed to boost the economy while seeking to achieve a nuclear power-free country. Taiwan aims to increase the ratio of electrical power generated via renewable resources such as hydroelectric, solar and wind power from 3 percent at present to 20 percent by 2025.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=247374&ctNode=2194&mp=9)