12 January 2012: The fifth Investor Summit on Climate Risk and Energy Solutions brought together close to 500 of the world’s investors and financial players to showcase their actions and discuss promising trends to catalyze large-scale investment.

The Summit, which took place on 12 January 2012 at UN Headquarters, addressed: the latest innovations in financing mechanisms for scaling climate and energy solutions, including clean technology, energy efficiency and green infrastructure investment; capital for climate adaptation and energy solutions for both the clean energy transition in the developed world, and for energy access for emerging economies; and the financial community’s key role in advancing strong, comprehensive climate and energy policies at the all levels.

Addressing the Summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored that the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) offers “a tremendous chance to expand economic opportunity, strengthen equity and protect the environment – the three “E’s”.” He stressed the role of global investors “who invest in sustainable prosperity” in order to “make the most of this moment.”

The 2012 edition of the Summit represented the fifth time the UN Foundation, the UN Office for Partnerships and Ceres bring together leading global financial players to address climate and energy challenges.

In a press conference held after the Summit, business leaders noted that overall investment in clean energy had grown 5% in 2011, to $260 billion, and that the industry had more than quintupled since 2005. Despite those positive changes, they called for further action to elevate the attention of both investors and policymakers on the issue of climate change. They urged companies to continue to innovate, and investors to continue to recognize the critical importance of climate change mitigation. [Summit Website] [Press Conference Transcript] [UN Secretary-General’s Remarks] [UN Press Release]