Friday 25 March 2011
Green Bank will achieve great things
Committing £3 billion to the Green Investment Bank despite tough economic times is a real achievement.
Defending the moves of the Chancellor in the recent budget, James Cameron, Vice-Chairman of Climate Change Capital, said that the money promised to Green investment was ground-breaking.
He said: "The Budget is a pivotal moment in the evolution of the Green Investment Bank concept into a real and enduring institution. The Coalition is creating something that can make a positive difference to the entrepreneurial enterprises we need to deliver sustainable growth and the green transformation of our economy."
"For the Bank to make a material difference with its initial capitalisation, it simply can't do everything straight away. In the near term it must be focused on specific financing challenges. For example, attracting the deep pools of low cost capital held by institutional investors to finance mission critical green infrastructure, such as offshore wind and energy efficiency."
The Vice-Chairman of the environmental advisory group warned that they'd have to keep an eye on the bank's progress: "This mustn't be a question of "fire and forget". It is also important that as the Bank develops, its capital base is regularly reinforced with pollution permit auction proceeds and newly announced UK carbon tax revenues."
