The global agreement on climate change has turned the Philippines into one of the countries with a huge climate-smart investment potential in the world, according to the International Finance Corp. (IFC).
In a mews statement, the IFC said the climate-change agreement signed last year opened up as much as $23 trillion in emerging-market opportunities.
Around $16 trillion of this amount can be made in climate-smart investments in East Asia and the Pacific, where China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam show the largest potentials.
“There has never been a better time than now for climate-smart investing,” IFC Executive Vice President Philippe Le Houérou said. “This reflects the dramatic reduction in the price of clean technologies and the rise of smart policies that are driving businesses to invest.”
Le Houérou added that the increase in climate-smart opportunities has also convinced them to increase its climate investments to $3.5 billion a year by 2020.
He added that the IFC also plans to catalyze $13 billion through other investors.
The IFC also said that a salient point in the report’s findings is the role of governments in unlocking the full potential of climate-smart investments.
“[The report] recommends that governments integrate national climate commitments into their development strategies and budget processes, strengthen the investment climate for climate-smart industries and deploy public funds strategically to mobilize private capital—by reducing risk and providing project support, for example,” the IFC said.
Since the Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015, a total of 189 countries have submitted national plans that target aggressive growth in climate solutions.
These include renewable energy, low-carbon cities, energy efficiency, sustainable forest management and climate-smart agriculture.
IFC said these plans offer a clear road map for investments that will target climate-resilient infrastructure and offset higher upfront costs through efficiency gains and fuel savings.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. It has worked with 2,000 businesses worldwide in the past six decades.
In fiscal year 2016, IFC’s long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $19 billion to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.