Green Finance: A Strategic Imperative for China

China’s “green financing” could be the key to making sure the Paris agreement comes to fruition.

By Deborah Lehr, as featured on The Diplomat

With last month’s high-profile signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement by 174 countries at the United Nations, the complicated process to turn these historic commitments on climate change into reality has begun.

Yet away from the cameras, the more difficult process of financing implementation of these commitments is getting a boost from what may seem an unlikely source: the Chinese government.

China will host the G20 Summit in September and its leadership has made “green finance” one of the pillar issues of its presidency. Reflecting this priority, China is becoming the global testing ground for innovative concepts in green finance with an ambitious domestic program for financing green growth. If successful, this model could drive standards and practices for the rest of the world.