China, the world’s biggest investor in clean energy, is on pace to install record amounts of new solar this year after adding 24 gigawatts of capacity in the first half amid a push by policymakers to locate electricity production near the point where it’s used. Learn more.

In this update, IISD reports on the “longest” and the “largest” green bonds issued to date, as well as a wide spectrum of developments on established and emerging mitigation financing models. Learn more.

The global financing market for energy-efficiency projects faces many hurdles, including asymmetric distribution of information, absence of standardized financing instruments, misinformation about potential obstacles and a lack of risk insurance. Now, a small team at IDB is targeting bringing multiple actors in the same arena to solve these issues via standardized contracts, risk insurance and third-party audits in Latin America. Learn more.

Financial institutions should be interested in deploying capital into energy efficiency as it brings the advantages of business opportunities, risk reduction, corporate social responsibility and reduced regulatory pressure. These are some of arguments made in the EEFIG Underwriting Toolkit, recently launched by the Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group (EEFIG) and the UN Environment Finance Initiative. Learn more.