Worldwide investment to address climate change fell $54bn in 2016 from the previous year, according to a report by independent advisory body the Climate Policy Initiative.
The ‘Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2017′ study showed investment aimed at moving towards a low-carbon future fell to $383bn from a record-high of $437bn in 2015.
The report claimed the latter figure was due to increased private investment in renewable energy, particularly in China, and in rooftop solar power in the US and Japan.
It put the 2016 decrease down to both falling green energy technology costs and lower capacity additions in some countries.
However, average investment over 2015-16 was 12% higher than the 2013-14 period, up to $410bn from $365bn, the report said.
Climate Policy Initiative executive director Barbara Buchner said: “While our numbers show that a wide range of public and private finance actors are taking advantage of the strong political signal following the Paris Agreement, a broader scale-up of investments across all sectors is critically needed to avoid dangerous climate change.”
Image: reNEWS
