Mar 30 2010
Canada was adjudged one of the leading countries in global clean energy investments and finance by The Pew Charitable Trusts, positioning it as the eighth in rank among the G-20 members in Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race? Growth, Competition and Opportunity in the World’s Largest Economies. With its investment of US$3.3 billion in the clean energy sector in 2009, resulting in an 80% annual growth, it was adjudged 6th in position in investment intensity and 8th in overall clean energy investment. Pew also ranked it 9th both in extracting energy from clean sources and in the 5-year growth rate of installed energy.
Ranks among the G-20 members
Along with its enthusiastic policy incentives, a focus on national policies is essential to make Canada a stronger contender in the global competition for clean energy. Without such frameworks it will fall behind Germany, Spain, Brazil, China, India and the United Kingdom, which have a high economic percentage in this sector with their mandated clean energy targets, loans for renewable energy projects, and carbon markets.
Pew, which tracks financial, technological and investment activities of G-20 members vis-à-vis the clean energy economy, has found a significant increase in global investment in this sector. Since 2005, global investments in clean energy have increased by 230%, and have touched a figure of US$162 billion in 2009 in spite of the recession around the world. Investment by G-20 members has increased by more than 50% in the past 5 years, accounting for more than 90% of the finance in the sector. By 2010 an estimated US$200 billion will be directed toward global clean energy. Six percent of global energy is already being produced by facilities with a capacity of 250 gigawatts generating renewable energy.
According to global figures in 2009, China, with an investment of US$34.6 billion, came first in the list and the USA came second investing US$18.6 billion.