"CMIA helped to explain the potential for project-based mechanisms across a variety of constituencies and is a key voice driving the conversation on results-based finance and sector approaches for scaling-up emission reduction investments. We urgently need input from organisations like CMIA to operationalise Art 6 of the Paris Agreement."

Mr. Franz-Josef Schafhausen, former Director General Climate Change, European and International Affairs, Federal German Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety

Financing energy efficient buildings: the path to retrofit at scale

27th May 2020 by CMIA

A report on phase one of the Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings.

Foreword

Citizens, communities and economies are facing the two greatest challenges of our times: climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic. The response to both these crises is rooted in science and innovation, as we seek solutions to monitor, mitigate and adapt to the impacts of coronavirus and our changing climate. The role of our financial system is also increasingly recognised as essential in facilitating those solutions, while also helping to create a more inclusive and sustainable global economy.

In the UK, our built environment is responsible for almost 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions. And yet this sector has significant potential to decarbonise and unlock wider benefits across the economy: energy savings that increase consumer spending power, healthier homes that reduce the burden on our health system, and the creation of new skilled jobs that can help stimulate the UK’s economic recovery.

In December 2019, the Green Finance Institute established the Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings to stimulate action across the finance sector to support the decarbonisation of our homes. In line with the Institute’s theory of change – which focuses on creating opportunities for the financial sector to profitably support the transition towards an environmentally sustainable economy – the Coalition is developing the market for financing net-zero and resilient homes, through the co-design and launch of viable and impactful financial ‘demonstrators’ that provide the catalyst for further financial innovation at scale.

This report outlines the results from the Coalition’s first phase including a focused review of the domestic retrofit market, a portfolio of ‘demonstrators’ that were developed by the 52 member organisations to unlock the barriers to investment, and policy recommendations that establish a conducive environment for rapid adoption and scale-up of energy efficiency improvements.

The UK has shown global leadership in tackling climate change and developing the green finance market. The Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings builds on the important work of the Green Finance Taskforce and Green Finance Strategy. As the Coalition moves into its next phase, delivering the first portfolio of demonstrators to market as set out in this report, we aim to demonstrate that cross-sector collaboration, focused on practicable, financial solutions to deliver local real-economy impact, is a key component to achieving the systemic change needed to meet the global challenge of decarbonising our built environment. We welcome you to join our journey.

Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE CEO

Green Finance Institute Chair

Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings

Read the full report here: https://bit.ly/GFI_Home