Remove Barriers to Investment to Solve Climate Crisis: IPCC

More impactful investment into clean energy technology is needed to combat the climate crisis, according to a new international report — and governments must work to reduce barriers.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated in its latest report that there was “sufficient global capital to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions if existing barriers are reduced”.

While greenhouse gas emissions were still growing, the rate of growth had notably reduced since the IPCC’s last landmark report in 2018, the panel said. However, the trajectory was still in excess of the 1.5˚C maximum warming that was the central aim of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The IPCC’s regular reports are compiled by a wide-ranging group of scientists, working in partnership with government representatives and other organizations.

“Increasing finance to climate investments is important to achieve global climate goals,” the panel stated in a press release. “Governments, through public funding and clear signals to investors, are key in reducing these barriers. Investors, central banks and financial regulators can also play their part.”

Removing these barriers should not be difficult as there were “tried and tested policy measures” that could be taken, the IPCC said, as well as important technological advances that should be supported.

“If technology, know-how and suitable policy measures are shared, and adequate finance is made available now, every community can reduce or avoid carbon-intensive consumption,” the IPCC said. “At the same time, with significant investment in adaptation, we can avert rising risks, especially for vulnerable groups and regions.”

Meanwhile, in the US, a group of North Carolina organizations and businesses are calling for the state’s government to remove barriers to make it easier for investment into clean energy technology and electric vehicles.

“Strong, decisive clean energy policies will signal that North Carolina is ‘open for business’,” the group wrote in a letter to state governor Roy Cooper, “thereby attracting in-state investments, creating jobs, and helping businesses access additional opportunities to save money and strengthen their competitive advantage.”

Globally, the size of the impact investment market exceeded $1 trillion at the end of 2022, according to estimates from the Global Impact Investing Network.