Bank of America moves to stimulate clean energy project financing

At last week’s United Nations Climate Summit, Bank of America announced a Catalytic Finance Initiative, designed to stimulate at least $10 billion of new investment into high-impact clean energy projects.

The aim of the initiative is to develop or promote innovative financing structures that reduce investment risk, thereby attracting a broader range of institutional investors.

“We want to take a leadership role in helping remove barriers to investment in clean energy projects around the world,” said Brian Moynihan, Bank of America chief executive officer. “The capital we commit and our strong global client and institutional investor relationships can lead to considerable additional investments in a lower carbon future.”

As part of the initiative, Bank of America will commit $1 billion in capital to investment structures that employ a range of de-risking tools, developed in conjunction with development finance institutions, insurance providers, foundations and institutional investors. The goal of the initiative is to make clean energy investments more financeable, particularly in emerging markets where projects can also address other critical such as health, education and job creation.

“Bank of America’s bold contribution demonstrates the leadership and public-private partnership required to catalyze action towards a low-carbon economy. Transformative change will follow many such initiatives,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and executive director of United Nations Environmental Programme.