Impax Asset Management has published a whitepaper detailing a five-step roadmap to help middle-income countries meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement
The whitepaper, entitled Clean Investment Roadmaps: A framework for building clean energy economies, was co-written by Impax CEO Ian Simm and Chris Dodwell, head of policy and advocacy.
It is intended as a “blueprint to enhance collaboration between policy and investment communities”, focusing specifically on middle income countries. The framework is initially focused on the energy sector, but can be applied to a wider range of sectors and countries, according to the authors.
The whitepaper states that most OECD countries already have significant experience with developing a clean energy economy and enjoy attractive investment climates, meaning they don’t need as much support with this task.
“By contrast, many developing countries have little or no elements of a clean energy economy (or if they do, supply is heavily focused in one area such as large scale hydro and is not scalable); furthermore, many have relatively (or acutely) unattractive investment climates, which hamper investment across a wide swathe of markets,” the authors said.
The five-step framework for developing Clean Investment Roadmaps is intended to guide policymakers in developing countries “in their quest to catalyse pipelines of investable projects in the energy sector”.
According to Impax, the below five steps should help policymakers attract investment from the private sector into projects designed to facilitate the clean energy transition:
- Agree and publish clear sectoral objectives and investment requirements
- Build understanding within government of sector and project economics
- Implement investment-grade policy at all levels: sectoral, indirect and investment climate
- Provide implementation resources that address local circumstances and barriers
- Initiate a clean investment dialogue with private investors and other key stakeholders at the start of the process
The framework summarises the investor perspective on each step, provides implications for policy makers and identifies examples of best practice from a range of international initiatives.
Dodwell said: “Meeting the targets agreed in the Paris Agreement will require all governments to stimulate private investment into clean energy economies, in particular in fast-growing, middle-income countries.
“By developing Clean Investment Roadmaps, policy makers can reduce investment risks, thereby increasing their chances of attracting private investment and delivering their policy objectives.”
Simm added: “As specialist investors in the transition to a sustainable economy, the Impax team regularly engages with policymakers on the design and implementation of environmental policy.
“At a time when we must all redouble efforts to deliver the targets in the Paris Agreement, we hope that the policy and investment communities can use the Clean Investment Roadmaps framework to strengthen their collaboration.”
