EcoWatch
Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k Subscribe Subscribe
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
      • Top Companies By State
        • California Solar Companies
        • Texas Solar Companies
        • New York Solar Companies
        • Florida Solar Companies
        • See All States
      • Top Incentives By State
        • California Solar Incentives
        • Texas Solar Incentives
        • New York Solar Incentives
        • Florida Solar Incentives
        • See All States
      • Solar Panel Costs By State
        • Solar Panel Costs in California
        • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
        • Solar Panel Costs in New York
        • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
        • See All States
      • Value of Solar by State
        • Is Solar Worth It In California?
        • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
        • Is Solar Worth It New York?
        • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
        • See All States
      • Company Reviews
        • Tesla Solar Review
        • Sunrun Solar Review
        • SunPower Solar Review
        • Vivint Solar Review
        • See All Companies
      • Common Solar Questions
        • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
        • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
        • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
        • Can You Finance Solar?
        • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
        • Payback On Solar Panels?
      • Solar Resources
        • Interactive Solar Calculator
        • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
        • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
        • Tesla Solar Roof Review
        • Cheapest Solar Panels
      • Companies Compared
        • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs SunPower
        • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
        • SunPower vs ADT Solar
EcoWatch
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
    • Go Solar Today
    • Top Companies By State
      • California Solar Companies
      • Texas Solar Companies
      • New York Solar Companies
      • Florida Solar Companies
      • See All States
    • Top Incentives By State
      • California Solar Incentives
      • Texas Solar Incentives
      • New York Solar Incentives
      • Florida Solar Incentives
      • See All States
    • Solar Panel Costs By State
      • Solar Panel Costs in California
      • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
      • Solar Panel Costs in New York
      • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
      • See All States
    • Value of Solar by State
      • Is Solar Worth It In California?
      • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
      • Is Solar Worth It New York?
      • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
      • See All States
    • Company Reviews
      • Tesla Solar Review
      • Sunrun Solar Review
      • SunPower Solar Review
      • Vivint Solar Review
      • See All Companies
    • Common Solar Questions
      • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
      • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
      • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
      • Can You Finance Solar?
      • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
      • Payback On Solar Panels?
    • Solar Resources
      • Interactive Solar Calculator
      • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
      • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
      • Tesla Solar Roof Review
      • Cheapest Solar Panels
    • Companies Compared
      • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs SunPower
      • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
      • SunPower vs ADT Solar

The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    EcoWatch
    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    Home Renewable Energy

    U.S. to Announce Plan for Private Companies to Fund International Renewable Energy Transition

    By: Olivia Rosane
    Updated: November 8, 2022
    Edited by Chris McDermott
    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon
    John Kerry speaks at COP27
    John Kerry, who has been mobilizing for a plan for private companies to fund the renewable energy transition, speaks at COP27. AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images
    Why you can trust us

    Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

    The U.S. is set to unveil a plan at COP27 for private companies to fund the renewable energy transition in exchange for carbon credits. 

    U.S. president Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry has reportedly been speaking with private companies and national governments to build support for the idea. It is slated to be announced at the UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. 

    “One of the things we’re looking at is the possibility of the private sector, in effect, being enticed to the table,” Kerry said last month, as the Financial Times reported. He added that money would be siphoned “directly into closing down some coal plants and acquiring renewables, which is direct emissions reduction.” 

    The plan, first reported by the Financial Times on Sunday, would see either regional or national governments amass carbon credits by shutting down fossil fuel infrastructure like coal-fired plants and replacing it with renewable energy. Private companies could then purchase these credits to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. The scheme would be voluntarily and would be certified by an independent entity still to be determined. 

    The purpose of the plan is to provide an incentive for private companies to help fund the renewable energy transition in poorer countries, The Washington Post reported. Fossil fuel companies would not be allowed to participate, according to Reuters. 

    The plan has many potential weaknesses. For one thing, carbon offsets are already controversial because they give companies a license to continue polluting without any real guarantee that an equal amount of carbon will be drawn down from the atmosphere to compensate. In this case, a company purchasing carbon credits from a coal plant turned into a wind farm, for example, would only truly offset its emissions if the transformation would not have happened without its assistance. 

    People familiar with the plan told the Financial Times that it currently lacked the details that would make its offsets mechanism robust. 

    “[Carbon credits are not] the kind of thing you can have half-baked. The rules matter, the details matter,” the anonymous person said. “There’s no easier way to get people angry than to throw offsets into the mix.” 

    Another problem with offsets is that they distract from the essential truth that every company and nation needs to get its real emissions as close to zero as soon as possible in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. 

    However, there is a strong argument in favor of finding a way to get the private sector involved in the clean energy transition in the developing world. Developed nations have still not followed through on their pledge to send $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer nations both wean themselves off of fossil fuels and adapt to climate impacts. And actual needs are even greater than that — around $3.8 trillion in investments yearly over the next three years — Biden’s senior advisor on climate change John D. Podesta told The Washington Post. So far, only 16 percent of that has materialized. 

    “Private-sector capital flows… that’s where the real money is,” Podesta said. “We’re talking billions when the need is trillions. We’ve got to unlock that [private-sector] capacity for people to make investments in building a clean-energy future or else we’ll miss both the development goals and the climate goals.”

    On the other hand, many leaders in the Global South are frustrated with the broken promises of their Global North counterparts and are mistrustful of corporate financing. 

    “Are we really delivering on climate change, or are we delivering on guarantees to ensure profits for the private sector?” Egypt’s lead climate negotiator Mohamed Nasr told the press ahead of COP27, as The Washington Post reported. “The thinking has to change. Investors should be thinking of their climate-positive impacts as part of their assessment of projects and delivery for investors.”

    More From EcoWatch
    • Is Solar Right For Your Home?
    • How to Lower Your Energy Bill
    • How to Conserve Energy

    Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

      By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

      Olivia Rosane

      Olivia Rosane is a freelance writer and reporter with a decade’s worth of experience. She has been contributing to EcoWatch daily since 2018 and has also covered environmental themes for Treehugger, The Trouble, YES! Magazine and Real Life. She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and a master’s in Art and Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London.
      Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

      Read More

      Under Proposed Biden Rule, Companies Could Lease Public Lands for Conservation Instead of Exploitation
      Currently, the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management
      By Olivia Rosane
      Despite Scientists' Warnings, House Republicans Pass Bill to Boost Fossil Fuels Amidst Climate Crisis
      Ten days after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released
      By Olivia Rosane
      How Plastics Threaten Human Health From ‘Cradle to Grave’
      Plastics harm human health at all stages of the life
      By Olivia Rosane

      Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

        By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

        Latest Articles

        • Under Proposed Biden Rule, Companies Could Lease Public Lands for Conservation Instead of Exploitation
          by Olivia Rosane
          April 1, 2023
        • Despite Scientists’ Warnings, House Republicans Pass Bill to Boost Fossil Fuels Amidst Climate Crisis
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 31, 2023
        • Miami Aquarium to Release Tokitae/Lolita, an Orca Who Spent 50 Years in Captivity
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          March 31, 2023
        • How Plastics Threaten Human Health From ‘Cradle to Grave’
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 31, 2023
        • Train Carrying Ethanol Derails and Catches Fire in Minnesota
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 31, 2023
        • U.S. Auctions Giant Stretch of Gulf of Mexico for Oil and Gas Drilling
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          March 30, 2023
        • UN Asks International Court of Justice to Weigh in on Climate Crisis for First Time, in Diplomatic Victory for Vanuatu
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 30, 2023
        • EPA’s Internal Watchdog to Investigate Agency’s Response to East Palestine Train Derailment
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 30, 2023
        EcoWatch

        The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

          • Climate Climate
          • Animals Animals
          • Health + Wellness Health + Wellness
          • Insights + Opinion Insights + Opinion
          • Adventure Adventure
          • Oceans Oceans
          • Business Business
          • Solar Solar
          • About EcoWatch
          • Contact EcoWatch
          • EcoWatch Reviews
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Policy
          • Learn About Solar Energy
          • Learn About Deregulated Energy
          • EcoWatch UK
          Follow Us
          Facebook 573k
          Twitter 238k
          Instagram 37k
          Subscribe Subscribe

          Experts for a healthier planet and life.

          Mentioned by:
          Learn more