Going Green (IMF)

This article by the IMF identifies the key factors which are driving increased investment to promote clean energy and reduce energy consumption. It highlights trends in the increasing share and investment of green energy sources owing to support policies such as feed in tariffs and renewable portfolio standards. These public programs have been scaled up as part of the fiscal policy response to the global financial crisis. The IMF adopts a statistical approach to identify the main factors affecting green investment. Their findings suggest that: higher levels of GDP tend to boost investment in green technologies; the cost of capital has a negative impact on green investment; oil prices also have a positive and large impact on green investment; RPS and biofuel mandates do not seem to affect green investments. The research suggests that green investment can be highly influenced by public policy choices.