Innovative Finance for Energy Innovation

There has been wide acknowledgement concerning the infrastructure needs – and associated costs – of reducing our global carbon output. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the financing needs of energy innovation, a prerequisite to low-carbon technologies that underlie the Paris Climate Agreement. This paper explores current utilization of risk sharing tools for clean energy innovation, as well as opportunities to apply innovative financing mechanisms – such as those commonly associated with international development – to drive investment in clean energy research, development and demonstration.