Joint Workshop held on Chinese Overseas Energy Investments

On October 4th and 5th, 2018 the Climate Policy Lab, jointly with the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University, hosted a workshop titled “Chinese Overseas Energy Investments: Implications for Climate and Development Policy.”

The workshop was kicked off on Thursday at Boston University, hosted by the Global Development Policy Center. The day began began with a topical overview of Chinese investment governance and drivers of investment abroad. The discussions considered, among other things, the motivations for Chinese financing of coal abroad and the barriers to financing renewable energy projects. In the afternoon, a series of presentations on Chinese investment in Asia and Southeast Asia provided the results of case study research in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and India.

On Friday, the workshop continued at The Fletcher School of Tufts University, with presentations on Chinese investment in Latin America, Africa, and beyond. A few primary topics of discussion emerged, including energy efficiency, the trade-off between speed and funding of projects, the role of civil society in different countries, and geopolitical considerations.

Both of the two days concluded with policy synthesis sessions, which drew out the commonalities and differences across the case studies presented, the known policy gaps, and the data and analysis needs.

The workshop drew international participants and was a great success in synthesizing policy-oriented research. It promises to serve as the impetus for further collaboration on related research.