The OECD Forum on Green Finance and Investment is the annual flagship event of the OECD Centre on Green Finance and Investment. Now in its 9th year, the Forum gathers senior policy makers and key public and private actors for action-oriented discussions on green and sustainable finance issues. This year, the Forum is held as a series of high-level panels and breakout sessions focused on the theme “Moving from commitments to actions in the decade for delivery: towards impactful green and sustainable finance.”

CPI’s Global Managing Director, Dr. Barbara Buchner, will moderate the following session:

Financing the responsible retirement of polluting assets: Can a just transition be profitable?

In order to meet the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement, the IPCC estimates that emissions have to peak at the latest before 2025 and radically reduce thereafter. At the moment, the projected emissions of existing and planned fossil fuel infrastructure are likely to exceed net emissions of 1.5C pathways. Beyond retrofitting and decarbonising existing infrastructure through the use of renewable fuels and gases, this raises the question of how to incentivise the early retirement of polluting assets, where existing price signals are insufficient to mobilise private capital and therefore additional intervention is required. The purpose of this session is to discuss the challenges of early retirement and potential solutions to the problem.

Speakers will include:

• Asger Garnak, Investment and Finance Lead, CONCITO
• Daniel Mminele, Head, Presidential Climate Finance Task Team, South Africa
• Samantha Smith, Director, Just Transition Centre, International Trade Union Confederation
• Ramesh Subramaniam, Director General for the Southeast Asia Department, Asian Development Bank