New Trends in Chinese Energy & Development Finance

Release time：2021-09-07    

U.S. special climate envoy John Kerry will be in China next week to pressure the government to renounce all future financing of coal power plants around the world. Although China generally does not respond well to foreign demands like this, Beijing may have already acceded to Kerry’s request.

So far this year, China hasn’t financed a single overseas coal project. This is the first time that’s happened since the launch of the BRI in 2013 and it appears to be part of a growing trend to focus its development finance initiatives on greener, cleaner projects that are smaller and less risky financially.

Christoph Nedopil, director of the Green Finance and Development Center at Fudan University, is among the world’s leading experts in tracking Chinese sustainable energy finance, particularly in Belt and Road countries. He joins Eric & Cobus from Shanghai to discuss the findings from his latest BRI investment report for H1 2021.

Show Notes:

• Green Belt and Road Initiative Center: China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report H1 2021 by Christoph Nedopil
• Bloomberg: China Avoids Coal Projects in Belt and Road for First Time
• South China Morning Post: Are China’s banks going cool on coal power plants in Africa? by Jevans Nyabiage

About Christoph Nedopil:

Christoph B. Nedopil, Associate Professor of Economics (Practice-Track), Director of the Green Finance and Development Center at Fanhai International School of Finance, Fudan University.

Dr. Nedopil is interested in green and sustainable finance, development economics, and green innovation finance. His research has been published in the Journal of Sustainable Finance and Economics, Sustainability, Environmental Policy, and Governance. He regularly contributes to policies and provides advisory services for international governments and financial organizations, amongst others for the BRI Green Development Coalition (BRIGC), for the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), and the Asian Development Bank. His work is featured regularly in Financial Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Caixin, etc.

Before joining FISF, Dr. Nedopil was the Founding Director of the IIGF Green BRI Center in Beijing at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, and he had worked with the World Bank for over 10 years.