Perceived barriers and policy solutions in clean energy infrastructure investment

International political negotiations and national policy for climate change mitigation are increasingly focussed on the mobilisation and scale up of investments in clean energy infrastructure. This paper aims to develop the understanding of how institutional investors in the private sector perceive barriers to scaling up investment into clean energy infrastructure and what policy solutions to those barriers they advocate. This paper adds to existing scientific knowledge through a clear focus on private sector perceptions. Through the analysis of previous public statements from organisations and coalitions in the finance sector a number of investment barriers were identified. These initial barriers fed into a Delphi process. The outputs of the Delphi process were categorized into five sets of barriers and a number of policy solutions associated with investing into clean energy solutions. We conclude that there is a need for better engagement with the institutional investment community to ensure further effort on policy development that underpins investments at scale is effective and efficient

Policy indexes as tools for decision makers: the case of climate policy

The last two decades have witnessed an explosion in the publication of country indexes that measure and rank the relative national policy performances of governments. To illustrate the challenges of using and applying these tools we focus on those four indexes that have been specifically designed in response to the emergence of the relatively new policy area of climate change. We investigate if and how these tools provide information about the evolving landscape of climate policy in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, widely considered the future battleground of climate policy. We find that even for this relatively narrow area different methodologies exist. Interpreting and applying climate policy indexes across countries therefore requires a solid understanding of underlying objectives and data used for each index. A clear gap is the underrepresentation of adaptation policy in all four indexes. Our investigation concludes with a reflection on how climate policy indexes are currently applied, including business planning. These tools provide informative pointers that can be of use for stakeholders, nevertheless they should not be considered in isolation, but need to be complemented by a broader view on what is driving particular responses to climate change in a country