With a global climate crisis fueled by rising greenhouse gas emissions on one hand and 1.6 billion people lacking access to electricity on the other the global community faces a serious quandary: How do we increase energy access while ensuring that our growing energy supply is clean and renewable? How can we structure a financing regime that meets both our environmental and social goals?

We have asked seekers and providers of energy finance to share what, from their perspectives in the field and in the firm, needs to happen to move clean energy finance from marginal to transformational in developing countries. Panelists will discuss the barriers to capital confronting clean energy at the small, medium and large scales, and how to overcome those challenges.

The panel will be followed by time for discussion with experts in the energy finance field.

Panelists:

• Srinivas Krishnaswamy – Director, Vasudha Foundation
• Nicola Armacost – Managing Director, Arc Finance, Ltd.
• Shruti Shukla – Policy Director, Global Wind Energy Council
• Tao Zhang – Chief Operating Officer, New Ventures at the World Resources Institute
• Ajay Narayanan – Head, Climate Business and Sustainability Unit, Global Financial Markets Department, International Finance Corporation
• Christopher Berendt – Drinker Biddle, Counsel to Environmental & Energy Practice Group

Moderatorated by Janet Redman, Institute for Policy Studies, and Michelle Chan, Friends of the Earth US.

Co-Sponsors: Friends of the Earth US, Institute for Policy Studies’ Sustainable Energy & Economy Network, Oil Change International, Sierra Club, World Resources Institute.