Book | 2018

The Carbon-Free Regions Handbook: Finance

By Jacob CorvidaeLaurie StoneMatt JungclausJames MandelAngela WhitneyPeter Bronski
Handbook
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Finance cuts across all of the sectors covered in this book, and is a key enabler for all of the recommendations. Regional governments operate at a scale that lends itself well to organizing and delivering financial solutions, and realizing scale benefits. These finance recommendations are highly variable, with solutions that are very dependent on the local economic and regulatory contexts. Each recommendation is portrayed as a broad strategy, with more detailed information on specific opportunities.

Regional governments operate at a scale that lends itself well to organizing and delivering financial solutions, and realizing scale benefits. These finance recommendations are highly variable, with solutions that are very dependent on the local economic and regulatory contexts. Each recommendation is portrayed as a broad strategy, with more detailed information on specific opportunities.

Developed in partnership with the Under2 Coalition 

27. CAPITAL AVAILABILITY

Invest capital into the infrastructure and assets of a community. Sources of capital must be secured to make those investments possible and to realize the wide range of benefits that those investments provide to the community.

Public-Private Partnerships/Green Banks

Description

The efficient use of limited public resources can make projects more attractive to the private sector, leveraging much larger amounts of private investment for low-carbon solutions. Judiciously using public   resources can help overcome market barriers and increase market activity by crowding in private sources of capital. A good example of public-private partnerships is green investment banks (GIBs). GIBs are public-purpose finance institutions designed to facilitate private investment in local low-carbon, climate-resilient projects by focusing on gaps in the market. They can be used to support small, decentralized efforts or major infrastructure projects. Some entities use a dedicated tax for specific projects to raise infrastructure funds.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

Concessionary Capital

Description

Some philanthropic organizations provide investment dollars for program-related investments (PRIs). Since the investments are aligned with missions, they can usually offer more favorable terms. Some socially minded venture capital firms offer similar solutions.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

Green Bonds

Green bonds are regular government or corporate bonds, the proceeds of which are earmarked for use only for projects that have positive environmental impacts. These bonds broaden the investor base and are tracked to ensure they are used for environmental projects. As a variation, a revenue bond can be issued against infrastructure projects with a dedicated income stream, such as utility services.

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Preinvestment Preparation

Local governments often need support to improve the financial design of project plans in order to attract capital investments. Multilateral funds are sometimes provided to developing countries. Preinvestment services can be financed to leverage larger-scale investments.

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28. FIRST-COST SOLUTIONS

Develop financing solutions that can cover the up-front costs for carbon-reduction actions that will create financial savings in the long term. These solutions will unlock more action, remove financial burdens associated with new requirements, and deliver greater financial benefits to those private stakeholders. The government’s role in these solutions can vary, with some requiring enabling legislation (e.g., property assessed clean energy programs) and others that are newer innovations needing support and introduction to the market (e.g., green leases).

Energy Savings Performance Contracts

ESPCs are contracts with a private energy services company to evaluate and deliver cost-effective energy upgrades to a facility and pay for those upgrades with the energy savings, providing a guaranteed savings and the private financing to make the upgrades. Regions can organize programs or pass legislation to allow and encourage ESPCs.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

Total Cost of Ownership Procurement Reform

Incorporating a total cost of ownership policy for the government and within the community will drive procurement decisions that include operating and maintenance costs. This approach supports greater energy efficiency, which may be discouraged by status-quo procurement policies that rely on low purchase costs.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

Green Leasing

Leasing arrangements typically create a “split incentive” where building owners have little incentive to invest in energy-related capital improvements because the tenants pay the utility bills and benefit from the lower energy use. With green leasing (or energy-aligned leasing), tenants and landlords share the costs and the benefits of site energy upgrades, which can include building efficiency and renewable generation.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

Property Assessed Clean Energy

PACE programs allow building owners to secure funds for energy-efficiency upgrades, and pay them back through their property tax assessments because of a public-private partnership. The result is that funds can be provided based on real estate values rather than personal or corporate credit, repayment is done through the existing tax mechanism, and the financing stays with the building rather than moving with the individual or company. PACE is active in over 20 US states, and residential PACE programs in only three states have unlocked a $5 billion market. PACE-like instruments are being developed in places like China and Europe.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

On-Bill Financing

Financing from public or private sources can be provided to bill-payers through the utility, creating a convenient option for customers, who can see the savings on their bills and pay all their energy-related costs in one place. This approach can also provide a viable business model for utilities to encourage their support of energy improvements in their service territories.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

 


29. MARKET INCENTIVES

Market structures can help stimulate widespread action in the private sector.  Governments can play a key role in supporting or even structuring markets to unlock that potential. These incentives help accelerate adoption and overcome status quo inertia.

Carbon Tax/Greenhouse Gas Trading

Support emissions reductions by putting a price on carbon—a carbon tax or fee—which will drive down emissions as polluting becomes more expensive. Alternatively, support setting emissions reductions targets, capping the total amount of allowable emissions, and allowing the market to determine the price with a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade policy. By putting an economic cost on carbon and creating a market for carbon-saving endeavors, governments can create market conditions that support carbon-saving solutions.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

Investment Tax Credits

Providing tax credits for projects that include renewable energy or energy-efficiency measures. Tax credits can be applied in several areas, including property taxes, income tax, value-add taxes, and others.

Action Documents

Incentives for Clean Technology Companies

Create incentives for clean technology companies, including economic development grants, tax incentives, and public venture capital programs.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

 


30. REDUCED PROCUREMENT COSTS

Regional governments are well positioned to organize programs that will lower the cost to procure upgrades and assets, such as solar installations, electric vehicles, and air-source heat pumps. By organizing these programs at scale, greater cost reductions can be achieved for constituents across the region.

Reverse Auctions for Procurement

In a reverse auction, the sellers are competing to provide the lowest price, as opposed to a traditional auction where buyers are competing for a higher price. Using this approach for energy-related procurements can effectively secure lower costs, as long as other quality requirements are clearly defined.

Action Documents

Recommended Resources

Aggregate Purchasing Programs

Organize aggregate (or bulk) purchasing opportunities for local governments and private businesses or citizens to secure lower prices and create a time-bound trigger to spur action. These can be direct equipment purchases or power purchase agreements.

Action Documents

Recommended Resource

 

Our goal in North-Rhine Westphalia is to become one of the most climate friendly industrial regions in the world. Therefore, we foster innovation as well as cooperation between start-ups, traditional industry, and our science community.

‐Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization, and Energy, State of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany

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Buildings

More efficient buildings provide multiple benefits including lower emissions, greater comfort, improved health, and lower ongoing costs.

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Mobility

Regional governments can enable cities to invest in better mobility options, lowering emissions while increasing mobility choices and improving health.

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Electricity

Ensuring that our electricity comes from renewable or zero emission sources is critical to a cleaner and more resilient future.

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Industry

Regional governments provide the right scale to support industry—the foundation of many regional economies—in transitioning to low-carbon solutions.

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Land Use

Sustainable and regenerative agriculture, forestry, and other land use can help offset some of the large emission impacts that this sector produces.

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Waste

Managing waste in a sustainable manner can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also creating economic opportunities.

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Finance

Regional governments can organize and deliver financial solutions to enable all the recommendations covered in the Handbook.

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