The UK’s new £3bn (€3.4bn) Green Investment Bank will likely make its priorities in offshore wind, waste and non-domestic energy efficiency says Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
And he announced that investments “will be able to be made from April 2012, just eleven months from now”.
Speaking at an event at Climate Change Capital in London, Clegg said the government is also looking at the potential for using the Bank to help deliver the first stages of its so-called “Green Deal”.
Initially, investment decisions will be made under “interim governance arrangements”, which Business Secretary will give more details on soon, he said.
“This is an important moment for the politics of climate change. The green cause has spent decades outside government, banging on the door,” Clegg said.
The bank will aim to close the gap between capital funds that want to invest in the green economy and firms “bursting to grow but desperate for funds”.Clegg said: “Smart investment from the Bank will catalyse much greater investment from the capital markets. By providing the finance for low carbon infrastructure, the bank will also help to lay the foundations for our long term growth.
Clegg said the green bank was a “world first” – with the UK the first country in the world to have a national bank dedicated to the green economy.
Last week, UKSIF, the sustainable investment and finance association, urged senior politicians to enact legislation covering the proposed bank. The 250-member group’s Chief Executive Penny Shepherd wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron saying legislation would demonstrate credible governance and sufficient political independence for the bank.
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