MNI BRIEF: China Needs CNY139 Tn To Fund Net-Zero Shift-CICC

China may need to invest around CNY139 trillion in green industries to achieve its goal of shifting to a carbon-neutral economy by 2060, said Huang Zhaohui, chief executive officer of state-owned investment bank China International Capital Corporation.

Funding demand by 2030, the year when China aims for carbon emissions to peak, will amount to CNY22 trillion, with another CNY117 trillion in the 30 years following, Huang said at a forum on Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). To meet this enormous funding gap, China needs to tap into foreign capital, so a unified global standard for green finance is needed, Huang said at the event organised by the Green Finance Committee, China Society for Finance and Banking.

Another state-owned lender, Bank of China, aims to provide at least CNY1 trillion funding for green industries in the next five years, Chairman Liu Liange said at the same forum. BoC's green credit lending will rise each year, along with other transitional support, said Liu.