At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2013 in Davos-Klosters, three leading economic voices – the presidents of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – delivered the troubling message that it will not be possible to emerge from the current global economic crisis without addressing resource scarcity and climate change. The Forum’s Global Risks 2013 report echoed these views, with climate change emerging as one of the top global risks faced by mankind. It is in this context that the Green Growth Action Alliance was created during the World Economic Forum hosted Mexican B20 process and was formally endorsed at the the Los Cabos G20 Summit, June 2012, with the goal to scale up private investment in green growth. In January the Alliance also issued the Green Investment Report 2013, which identified the size of the gap in the investment required.
This first progress report of the Alliance aims to provide a blueprint for action that government, business and civil society leaders can use to transform the global economy into an economically and environmentally sustainable pathway. In its first year, the Alliance has developed a unique approach to delivering new financing solutions for green growth in developing economies. It has worked to unlock capital for clean energy in Kenya; to shape new vehicles for financing climate- smart agriculture in Vietnam; to advance new policy and market solutions to jump- start India’s National Solar Mission; and to transfer innovative structures for financing energy efficiency from Europe to Mexico and the Russian Federation. It has also spurred innovation in institutional investment in green growth, bankability of Power Purchase Agreements and green free trade.