What Is Climate Finance?

什么是气候金融？

The term climate finance has both broad and narrow uses. In its broad sense, it refers to an enterprise that uses financial institutions or technologies to advance the cause of environmental sustainability, such as by developing or deploying new solar panels or other renewable energy sources.

气候金融一词有广义和狭义之分。从广义上讲，气候金融是指利用金融机构或技术推动环境可持续性事业的企业，例如通过开发或部署新的太阳能电池板或其他可再生能源。

 

In its narrow usage, climate finance refers to the transfer of capital from developed to developing nations in adherence to international agreements such as the 2016 Paris Agreement.

从狭义上讲，气候金融是指根据2016年《巴黎协定》等国际协议，将资本从发达国家转移到发展中国家。

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

要点

·Climate finance is a broad term that can refer either to the role of finance in facilitating efforts to address climate change or to the obligations owed by richer nations to poorer ones.

·气候金融是一个宽泛的术语，既可以指金融在促进应对气候变化努力方面的作用，也可以指富国对穷国所承担的义务。

·Discussions around climate finance are increasing in importance, as the world wrestles with climate change’s visible and severe effects.

·在全世界都在应对明显的气候变化及其严重的影响之际，围绕气候金融的讨论变得越来越重要。

·Climate finance is used to incentivize investment and development in renewable energy infrastructure, sustainable agriculture, or other adaptations to climate change.

·气候金融用于激励可再生能源基础设施、可持续农业或其他适应气候变化的投资和发展。

·Many argue that developed economies should subsidize the adoption of environmentally friendly energy sources by developing nations, along with other such investments.

·许多人认为，发达国家应该为发展中国家采用环境友好型能源以及其他此类投资提供补贴。

·By 2023, developed countries will have spent up to $100 billion on climate finance initiatives, according to the OECD.

·经合组织表示，到2023年，发达国家将在气候金融计划上投入高达1000亿美元。

 

Understanding Climate Finance

了解气候金融

Climate change is the long-term progression of patterns in the world's climate. These changes are commonly related to human activities such as the use of certain nonrenewable resources like fossil fuels. Once burned, these energy sources help raise the Earth's temperature by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Climate finance is a way for individuals and nations to help fight climate change.

气候变化是世界气候模式的长期演变。这些变化通常与人类活动有关，例如使用某些不可再生资源，如化石燃料。这些能源一旦燃烧，就会向大气中释放温室气体，提高地表温度。气候金融是个人和国家帮助应对气候变化的一种方式。

 

In the most general sense, climate finance refers to any type of financing used to tackle climate change. Financing normally takes place on the municipal, national, or international level and comes from various sources—both public and private.

从最普遍的意义上讲，气候金融是指用于应对气候变化的任何类型的融资。融资通常发生在城市、国家或国际层面，并来自公共和私人的各种来源。

 

The topic of climate finance is growing in international importance, as countries and companies become increasingly aware of the risks and opportunities associated with climate change. For instance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported in September 2019 that between 2010 and 2019, global investments in renewable energy technologies exceeded $2.5 trillion, roughly quadrupling the global energy capacity associated with renewable sources.

随着各国和各公司对与气候变化相关的风险和机遇的意识越来越强，气候金融这一专题在国际上的重要性也与日俱增。例如，联合国环境规划署（UNEP）于2019年9月报告称，2010年至2019年间，全球对可再生能源技术的投资超过2.5万亿美元，与可再生能源有关的全球能源能力大约翻两番。

 

Contributors to Climate Finance

气候金融的促成因素

Various financial institutions and technologies played an essential role in facilitating this shift in global energy infrastructure. Among the examples of how finance plays a role in this process include the use of:

各种金融机构和技术在促进全球能源基础设施的这一转变中发挥了重要作用。金融如何在这一过程中发挥作用，可参考如下：

 

·Banks and other intermediaries to transfer capital overseas.

·银行和其他中介机构将资金转移到海外。

·Financial markets to price energy commodities.

·金融市场为能源商品定价。

·Derivative markets to hedge and exchange risks related to energy prices.

·衍生市场对冲和交换与能源价格相关的风险。

·Stock exchanges and investment vehicles to facilitate investment in renewable energy companies.

·证券交易所和投资工具，以促进对可再生能源公司的投资。

 

Climate finance encompasses all of these activities, which are likely to accelerate even further in the coming years.

气候金融包括上述所有活动，并且这些活动在未来几年可能会进一步加速。

 

As noted above, the term also has a more narrow meaning. In this sense, it relates to the question of how developed countries should support developing ones in their transition toward energy sources and other technologies with improved environmental footprints. These discussions are frequently contentious and raise a slew of morally ambiguous questions.

如上所述，该术语还有一层狭义的含义。从这个意义上讲，涉及到发达国家应如何支持发展中国家向能源和其他环境足迹得到改善的技术过渡的问题。这些讨论经常引起争议，并提出了一系列道德上模棱两可的问题。

 

Example of Climate Finance

气候金融示例

Let's look at an example to show how climate finance works in the real world. A common demand from developed countries, such as those in North America and Europe, is that developing nations, such as those in Asia or sub-Saharan Africa, should refrain from relying on new coal-fired power plants. On the other hand, these developing countries often contend that this demand is hypocritical since developed countries were able to exploit coal and other inexpensive fossil fuels during their own periods of industrialization.

让我们看一个例子来说明气候金融如何在实际中发挥作用。北美和欧洲等发达国家的共同要求是，亚洲或撒哈拉以南非洲等发展中国家应避免依赖新的燃煤电厂。但这些发展中国家经常辩称这种需求是伪善的，因为发达国家能够在自己的工业化时期开采煤炭和其他廉价化石燃料。

 

For this reason, many believe that developed countries have a moral obligation to subsidize developing countries by helping them invest in more environmentally friendly energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric power.

因此，许多人认为发达国家有道德义务补贴发展中国家，帮助它们投资于更环保的能源，如风能、太阳能和水力发电。

 

Special Considerations

特别注意事项

The debates around climate change become increasingly difficult when one seeks to find the exact definition of a developing country and to determine how much responsibility each country has for carbon emissions.

当人们试图找到发展中国家的确切定义并确定每个国家对碳排放负有多大责任时，围绕气候变化的辩论变得越来越困难。

 

Should the United States provide subsidies to China, for example, due to the fact that its per capita income is still far below that of the United States? Many Americans are likely to consider this politically unacceptable, citing China’s rapid development in recent years.

例如，由于中国的人均收入仍远低于美国，美国是否应该资助中国？许多美国人可能会认为这在政治上是不可接受的，理由是中国近年来的快速发展。

 

Political discussions surrounding climate finance can also prove contentious around the question of which investments should be considered eligible for funding under the climate finance programs. For example, some would argue that child education should receive funding, on the grounds that it would reduce population growth and therefore help curb emissions. However, others may wish to restrict climate finance initiatives to projects with a more direct and near-term association with climate change.

围绕气候金融的政治讨论也可能在哪些投资应被视为符合气候金融计划的资金这一问题上存在争议。例如，一些人认为儿童教育应该得到资助，理由是这将减少人口增长，从而有助于减少排放。然而，其他国家可能希望将气候金融倡议限制在与气候变化有更直接和短期联系的项目上。

 

How Does Climate Change Affect Finance?

气候变化如何影响金融？

Because the economic effects of climate change are difficult to predict, climate change is likely to increase the uncertainties facing capital markets. For example, increased risks of wildfires, floods, and droughts will increase the potential losses for insurers and investors. These uncertainties are likely to result in higher long-term costs for the financial sector.

由于气候变化的经济影响难以预测，气候变化可能会增加资本市场面临的不确定性。例如，野火、洪水和干旱风险的增加将增加保险公司和投资者的潜在损失。这些不确定性可能会导致金融部门的长期成本上升。

 

英文来源：

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/climate-finance.asp