Belt Road Initiative Investment in the Energy Sector: Framing Sustainable Policy Solutions for the Post-COVID World

The Belt Road Initiative (BRI) has rapidly become a landmark program for international infrastructure development due to its massive scale, speed, and range of international partnerships. The focus of this dialogue will be BRI energy infrastructure investment in Southeast, South, and Central Asia, covering projects such as electricity generation capacity, grids, and mini-grids.

Energy infrastructure investment is a critical component of the ability for BRI countries to meet the ambitions outlined by the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. Greater BRI investment in low-carbon energy, particularly in the context of COVID-19, holds enormous potential as well to initiate and accelerate post-COVID economic recovery and growth in BRI countries as well as bring major gains in terms of jobs created and improved public health. Conversely, future investments in carbon-intensive energy projects, whether within the BRI framework or outside of it, create well-established concerns over social and environmental risk and the potential financial risks of stranded assets. Host country development strategies, planning capacities, and regulations will be of critical importance in taking forward green electricity generation options and project standards.

This virtual meeting is a first in a series of dialogues that will lead to policy-relevant conclusions and recommendations on how to best ensure that energy projects undertaken within the BRI framework can deliver significant environmental, economic, and social benefits along with returns on investment. This thought-leadership process will bring together participants to contribute their insights and expertise. In addition to roundtable discussion in plenary sessions and detailed examination of key issues in small breakout-group format, the virtual platform will allow for informal chats among individual participants as would occur at a physical meeting.

The event is organized in partnership with Wilton Park, the Growald Family Fund, the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), GIZ, the UK Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the European Climate Foundation, and the Green Finance Centre.