IIPP Director gives keynote in Beijing on green growth to meeting of global energy ministers
30 May 2017
Professor Mariana Mazzucato gave a series of talks at the second Mission Innovation-Clean Energy Ministerial conference in Beijing, China, 6 â 8 June 2017.
The conference brought together two groups that were formed after the 2015 COPS meeting in Paris: and the . While MI focuses on breakthrough R&D for the new technologies of tomorrow, the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) focuses on scaling the deployment of technologies and solutions that are available today. Together, MI and CEM aim to be a robust platform for accelerating clean energy innovation and facilitating its uptake by a global market.Â
The meeting was attended by from 22 member nations and the European Unionârepresenting more than 80% of the worldâs public investment in clean energy research.
Mazzucatoâs lunchtime keynote on June 7th was a session organized by both groups. Her talk,âGreen growth: Rethinking public and private risk-takingâ, was delivered to an audience of global Energy Ministers from 22 countries and leading figures from the finance and energy sectors.Â
Professor Mazzucato said: âTo achieve a clean energy revolution we must learn from the role of public and private sectors in the IT revolution. Meeting the challenge of climate change requires not only significant private sector investment in R&D, piloting and deployment, but also public sector agencies willing to take on risks in the most capital intensive and high-risk areas. That is why the twin roles played by Mission Innovation (upstream) and the Clean Energy Ministerial (downstream) are so important. Public and private sectors need to work together in new and dynamic ways to create and shape new markets in order to steer the direction of economic growth in a âgreenâ direction.âÂ
Mazzucato also moderated the opening panel discussion on the important roles of Mission Innovation & the Clean Energy Ministerial in driving progress in the energy revolution (8th June). The panel included: Bertrand Piccard, Solar Adventurer, Solar Impulse; Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, Senior Vice President for Sustainability, Statoil; Wu Gang, Chairman, Goldwind Science & Technology; Rachel Kyte, Chief Executive Officer,  Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL); Ibrahim Baylan, Minister, Ministry of the Environment and Energy, Sweden; and Riku Huttunen DG of Finlandâs Dept of Energy.
Mazzucato also met with US Energy Secretary Rick Perry, with whom she discussed the key role of the state in driving clean energy innovation as set out in her book, .
Earlier in the week she spoke at an event hosted by the Energy Foundation on why a green revolution needs a mission-oriented public sector and a definancialised private sector (6th June).
The green economy and sustainable development, will be a key area of work for the new Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose that Prof. Mazzucato is directing at MyAV·¶. IIPP research in this area focusses on the relationship between the sources of finance and the direction of innovation, as well as the role that mission-oriented investments can play in aligning upstream and downstream investments. This strand will be developed in collaboration with Visiting Research Associate, Dr Gregor Seminiuk.
Further reading
- Watch Professor Mazzucatoâs interview with The Banker, âChina under Trump: the green innovation raceâ (23/1/2017)
- âPublic Financing of Innovation: new questionsâ Mazzucato, M. and Semieniuk, G., Oxford Review of Economic Policy (February 2017)
- âFinancing renewable energy: Who is financing what and why it mattersâ, Mazzucato, M. and Semieniuk, G., Working paper (June 2016)
- Â âWhat will it take to get us a green revolution?â Mazzucato, M., Semieniuk, G. and Watson, J. Policy Paper (December 2015)
- âToward a Green New Dealâ, Mazzucatoâs article for Project Syndicate (14/12/15)
- Â âThe Green Entrepreneurial Stateâ, Mazzucato, M., Working paper (October 2015)