Paris Misaligned Joint Summary

This executive summary by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) evaluates the alignment of global power sector investment with the Paris Agreement goals for 2018. Using a new science-based methodology, CPI finds that significant investment continues to flow into fossil fuel power, putting the world on a temperature trajectory exceeding 3.2°C. The document highlights a critical gap in asset-level transaction data and provides recommendations for public and private actors to halt carbon-intensive investments and accelerate the decommissioning of fossil fuel plants.

• In 2018, approximately USD 129 billion, or 29% of new global power investment, was directed toward fossil fuel power. This resulted in 109 GW of new fossil generating capacity and places the world on a temperature trajectory of over 3.2°C, which is more than double the Paris Agreement target.
• No major country or region is decarbonizing its power sector at the pace required to meet Paris goals. In 2018, finance to most regions was 'extremely misaligned,' with average emissions rates exceeding the targets of the IEA's least aggressive Current Policies Scenario. China, India, Japan, and South Africa are noted as particularly worrying due to continued investment in high-emissions power despite their existing emissions-intensive assets.
• No major category of investor is fully aligned with Paris-aligned emissions intensity targets for power-sector finance. Institutional investors (43% alignment with regional targets) and multilateral development banks (28% alignment) are marginally more on track than other investor types, none of which exceed 20% alignment when aggregated by region.
• Commercial finance institutions are categorized as 'Very misaligned' and were the primary sources of tracked fossil fuel power investment at USD 13 billion. Specifically, in 2017/18, commercial banks invested USD 13 billion, export credit agencies USD 9 billion, and state-owned banks USD 5 billion per year in fossil fuel power plants.
• There is a significant lack of transparency in high-emissions finance, as asset-level transaction data was available for only 23% of tracked high-emissions power finance in 2018. This is attributed to current disclosure rules that allow firms to finance dirty activities through corporate balance sheet borrowing rather than at the project level.
• The primary obstacle to Paris alignment is the locked-in emissions from existing fossil fuel generation. To achieve alignment, the report argues that all new power finance must fund zero-carbon generation and that the decommissioning of fossil fuel plants must be accelerated.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2020). Paris Misaligned Joint Summary. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Paris-Misaligned-Joint-Summary-5.pdf

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Paris Misaligned Joint Summary. 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Paris-Misaligned-Joint-Summary-5.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Paris Misaligned Joint Summary |date=December 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Paris-Misaligned-Joint-Summary-5.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2020paris, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Paris Misaligned Joint Summary}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = dec, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Paris-Misaligned-Joint-Summary-5.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }