Qian Jingjing and Li Gao (right), on behalf of NRDC and CIFA, signed the MOU on International Forum on Climate-Friendly Banking in Beijing on November 14,2020. @NRDC  

Major financial investment and leveraging private capital is key to supporting China’s new carbon neutrality goal. To further that goal, NRDC and partners hosted an International Forum on Climate-Friendly Banking in Beijing on November 14 to promote climate investment and green finance in the banking industry. This is the first climate-friendly banking forum of its kind in China, and it elevated the awareness and knowledge of climate-friendly banking for financial institutions, local governments, researchers, and other sectors. At the forum, NRDC signed an MOU with Climate Investment and Finance Association of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences (CIFA) to jointly promote the policies, standards, and practices of climate investment and finance in China. 

Mr. Li Gao, the Director-General of the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) and the director of CIFA, pointed out that, the financial system plays a key role in tackling climate change and it needs to provide effective support for the country’s climate goal to be realized. Mr. Ye Yanfei, Senior Inspectorate Advisor of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission stressed the importance of setting evaluation standards to help guide and monitor climate investment. The forum looked to help accelerate the transition of the banking industry to a more sustainable and climate-friendly path of development. Experts from domestic and foreign banks, financial institutions, think tanks, and environmental organizations discussed innovative practices of climate finance, how to effectively prevent climate risks, and strengthen climate information disclosure and governance.