Bolstering the Belt and Road Initiative through green finance

This year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with four other ministries, released the "Guidance on Promoting a Green Belt and Road". Realizing this ambition requires green finance - the full range of financial services that support the transformation to an environmentally and climate-friendly economy.

Green finance in China has seen strong development based on the "Guidelines for Establishing a Green Financial System" published by the People's Bank of China (the country's central bank) and six other government agencies in 2016. In 2018, the Chinese green bond market became the second largest in the world - after the United States - with the issuance of $30 billion.

Scaling and accelerating these experiences to greening the Belt and Road Initiative is a long-term but achievable goal. Failing to green the Belt and Road would have potentially catastrophic climate impacts.