Scots dig deep in lobby to house Green Bank

An alliance of Scotland’s finance sector, power and renewable energy firms and universities is backing a campaign being taken to Westminster, to lobby ministers on Edinburgh being the ideal home for the Green Investment Bank being set up by the UK government.

The alliance claims Edinburgh has an established renewable energy industry, financial expertise and strong academic research into green power, which gives it an edge over London, and that such a bank would lack impact and openness if it were located in London.

The GIB is being set up with £3 billion of public money to help firms finance early-stage renewable energy schemes.

Ole Beier Sørensen, chairman of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change and chief of research and strategy with the Danish pension fund ATP said the Green Investment Bank was a sign of the government’s commitment to moving the UK toward a low-carbon economy.

“Public policy will play a critical role in driving the scale of investment required to meet the UK’s clean energy targets. Ensuring the Green Investment Bank has the right structure and products in place from its launch will be essential to mobilising private capital. This framework will allow institutional investors to accurately assess the investment opportunity and, consequently, contribute to raising the amount of capital at the pace required to renew and upgrade the UK’s energy infrastructure,” he said.