Table Of ContentJae Myong Koh
Green Infrastructure Financing
Institutional Investors, PPPs and Bankable Projects
Green Infrastructure Financing
Jae Myong Koh
Green Infrastructure
Financing
Institutional Investors, PPPs
and Bankable Projects
Jae Myong Koh
The Embassy of the Republic of Korea
Cairo, Egypt
ISBN 978-3-319-71769-2 ISBN 978-3-319-71770-8 (eBook)
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For my mother
Dominica Won Sim Ju (1944–)
Preface
Given that over 700 million people are still living in extreme poverty in
our world, eradicating such global poverty is a priority issue that needs
the urgent attention of our global community. One of most effective
ways to eradicate global poverty is to make a country self-sufficient, even
rich, by assisting economic development. At the same time, our global
community cannot avoid another critical challenge that arises in the
course of promoting economic development of countries. This challenge
is the fight against climate change. If climate change is not addressed at
the same time, it can seriously undermine the basis of economic develop-
ment and exacerbate global poverty. Unfortunately, these parallel major
global challenges—global poverty and climate change—do not give us the
luxury of responding at our leisure; time is not on our side. Studies show
that in about 20 years’ time, the world is projected to cross an irreversible
line in relation to climate change, if the current pace of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions is not substantially reduced. Therefore, in order to keep
the rise in global average temperature below 2 °C, the total amount of
GHG emissions since 1870 needs to remain below 2900 GtCO equiva-
2
lent. Under ordinary circumstances, the earth is projected to pass the
threshold of 2900 GtCO equivalent in 2040. Surprisingly, even with
2
new commitments of all countries under the Paris Agreement (2015) to
reduce their national GHG emissions, the earth is estimated to pass the
threshold only 8 months later than in the original timeline. Accordingly,
vii
viii Preface
the author proposes an innovative approach that is effective to achieve the
necessary breakaway from the current inertia in the fight against global
poverty and climate change. To be more specific, this book invites the
attention of the global community to the potential of institutional inves-
tors who can make an enormous contribution to the fight against global
poverty and climate change with their ‘US$ 92 trillion in assets.’
Harnessing the enormous power of the institutional investors, this book
pursues win-win outcomes: profits for the investor and a parallel reduc-
tion in global poverty and climate change.
Importantly, this book is written to be accessible to the non-specialist
with narratives on global challenges and countermeasures at a level that
presupposes no specialized knowledge of the subjects. Rather, this book
aims to promote a common understanding of general readers on the lim-
its of the current global response to such challenges and an effective cop-
ing strategy. Common sense tells us that when efforts of ordinary
individuals are consolidated into a force at the global level, strong
momentum can be generated to rise to the global challenges. Empowering
individuals with knowledge gives them tools for facing and overcoming
these challenges. The author believes that changes to a paradigm in
human history do not come overnight, but that such change comes grad-
ually when many people share the sense of a direction and move together
in that direction. If more people join in, the rate of change will increase.
Cairo, Egypt Jae Myong Koh
Acknowledgements
Producing this book is a process of looking for truth standing on the
shoulders of giants. Above all, I would like to extend my heartfelt grati-
tude to the late professor Choon-ho Park, former judge of the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, for his guidance since my undergraduate
days. My special thanks go to Professor Joong-kyung Choi for leading me
to the world of development cooperation and project financing. I would
also like to extend my sincere gratitude to Professor Sung-hwan Kim for
allowing me as his advisor to join the activities of the UN High-Level
Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda for the period between
2012 and 2014. It was a pleasant eye-opening experience to learn about
the insights and life philosophies of the panelists. Among them, the pas-
sionate voices of Professor Horst Köhler of Germany and Ms. Tawakkol
Carmen of Yemen were sources of inspiration, stirring something deep
within each of the participants at the conferences. I am also grateful to
Dr. Ashraf Ghani of the Institute for State Effectiveness (ISE), for his
insightful vision and advices on development issues. I also cannot forget
the leadership and full support of Ambassador Enna Park in the develop-
ment cooperation community.
In expanding and sharing ideas on development issues, I equally
thank Mr. Richard Manning, former Chair of the Development
Assistance Committee of the OECD, Professor Joakim von Braun of the
Center for Development Research (ZEF), Dr. Won-hyuk Lim of the
ix
x Acknowledgements
Korea Development Institute (KDI), Dr. So-jin Lim of Korea Exim
Bank, Dr. Deok-ryung Yoon of the Korea Institute of International
Economic Policy (KIEP), Mr. Richard Samans of the World Economic
Forum (WEF), Dr. Felix Povel of KfW, Mr. Jeff Lewis of World Bank,
Mr. Jose Dallo of UNDP, and Ms. Kyung-ae Ha of the UNFCCC.
I also benefited greatly by exchanging thoughts with, and getting sup-
port from, many seniors and colleagues in the development cooperation
community of the Republic of Korea, including Ambassador Dong-man
Han, Ambassador Soon-gu Yoon, Ambassador Young-ju Oh, Mr. Jin-kyu
Jeong, Ms. Hyun-joo Oh, Ms. Hye-ran Chun, Ms. Eun-ji Seo, Mr.
Young-kyu Park, Dr. Jang-ho Park, Dr. Kwang-yul Peck, Mr. Jun-il Lee,
Ms. Ji-young Choi, Mr. Young-seop Yoo, Mr. Dong-jin Kim, Mr. Kyung-
rock Kim, Mr. Man-ki Lee, Mr. Joon-hyuk Chang, Mr. Kyung-hwan
Kim, Mr. Byung-sik Chung, Dr. Young-ki Kim, Mr. Young-hoon Chang
and Mr. Tae-young Park.
In relation to the editing work, I would like to say many thanks to Ms.
Jennifer Lew Schneider for her detailed comments and insightful advice.
I am also grateful to Ms. Tula Weis and her editorial team at Palgrave
Macmillan for their excellent support and guidance.
Last but not least, I am blessed with the warm love and full support of
my family. My wife, Hye-jean Lee, always provided me encouragement
for writing this book, giving me insightful ideas and useful reference
materials. My children, Anna and Yohan, put up with their boring dad
nearly every weekend over the past couple of years, always warming my
heart with their sincere love. I also deeply thank my parents, Kwang-
woong Koh and Won-sim Ju, for all their sacrifice and love for me.
The views contained in this book are mine alone and are not intended
to represent the perceptions of any institution or government with which
I am associated. I am solely responsible for the outcome. The text seeks to
represent the position as at February 1, 2017, although I have reflected
changes of a more recent nature where possible.
Contents
Part I The Importance of Green Infrastructure 1
1 Seedlings of Change 3
Solar Power 4
Wind Power 4
Geothermal Power 5
Subway 5
Rapid Transit System 5
Non-green Projects 6
References 9
2 Green Infrastructure to Pursue Two Visions 11
One Arrow to Pierce Two Targets 11
The First Vision: Making a Country Wealthy 12
The Second Vision: Checking Climate Change 51
Conclusion: Green Infrastructure is a Common
Denominator 57
References 60
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