Local communities in Japan are taking sustainable energy into their own hands, with small investors backing wind and solar projects instead of waiting for the government to act. Hometown investment trust funds are using the Internet to tap local investors for 100 dollars to 5,000 dollars to fund projects where they live.

Banks are reluctant to finance renewable energy projects, deeming them too risky. Alternative financing vehicles are supporting growth in risky sectors in Asia. Hometown investment trust funds have spread from Japan to Cambodia, Mongolia, Peru, and Viet Nam, and are also attracting attention from the government of Thailand and Malaysia’s central bank.

Read the transcript

http://bit.ly/2xa9H3Z

Read the blog post

https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2017/04/hometown-investment-trust-funds-a-sustainable-solution-for-financing-green-energy-projects/

Authors

Naoyuki Yoshino, dean, ADBI

https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/dean

Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary, assistant economics professor at Keio University, Tokyo

https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/author/farhad-taghizadeh-hesary/

Know more about ADBI’s work on hometown investment trust funds

http://bit.ly/2vO13J0