Investors See Green in Clean Energy

Last week saw the Investor Summit on Climate Risk, a forum of about 500 people sponsored by the UN and Ceres, the Boston-based coalition of investors, industries, and environmental groups that has sought for 25 years to engage big business in environmental protection and the climate change battle.

There’s just one problem:  Investment is on the decline for the second year in a row, according to new statistics released yesterday by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Analysts here insisted the numbers mask a more optimistic story of growing concern about climate change on Wall Street.  One important factor behind the investment decline is the falling cost of renewable energy installations, meaning investors get more bang for fewer bucks.  Just in the last 18 months, the cost of a typical solar panel system dropped 45 percent; from 2012 through 2013, the total number of installed systems worldwide grew 20 percent.

In other words, the volume of renewables on the grid is growing even though less is being spent on them.

Investors See Green in Clean Energy