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Conservatives plan to create 'green investment bank'
24 Nov 2009Environmentalists today welcomed Tory proposals to create a "green investment bank" as the Opposition began a concerted effort to show its eco-friendly credentials.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said he was consulting on the idea of a single institution to handle Government funding and secure private investment for green businesses.
He also pledged to slash central government emissions by 10%, saving £300 million a year in energy bills, and to encourage recycling by offering households £130 a year in shopping vouchers.
In one of six speeches by shadow ministers on the environment this week, he pledged to drive eco policy from the Treasury if elected and accused Chancellor Alistair Darling of ignoring the issue.
Mr Osborne, speaking at Imperial College in London, said Germany, Australia, France and Spain had already set up green banks and warned that Britain needed to catch up.
"I can today announce that we are consulting on the creation of a Green Investment Bank, which will invest in the next generation of green British businesses," he said.
"Instead of the current system of multiple sources of Government funding for green investment projects, we will look to roll up these funds into a single bank that can leverage private sector investment and fund new green start-ups."
He went on: "If we're to compete in the technologies of the future, and come out of this recession with a more balanced economy, then Britain needs to play catch-up.
"Our Green Investment Bank will help us do precisely that. It will help deliver the green finance we need for new growth and new jobs in every region of the country.
"And it will help us to decarbonise our economy and compete for business around the world."
Greenpeace welcomed the initiative but questioned how it would raise the massive sums required.
Executive director John Sauven said: "A new bank to drive money into green investment is a good proposal.
"We now need clarity on how the Conservatives would make this sufficiently ambitious to provide the tens of billions needed to create a low carbon economy and develop new green industries.
He went on: "We need to encourage long-term investment from pension funds and savings schemes to fund clean energy projects.
"What's missing from the debate is a green strategy for taxation that will reward companies and individuals that reduce their carbon emissions and save resources, and penalise those that needlessly pollute."
Among other proposals set out by Mr Osborne were "Green ISAs" to allow the public to make climate-friendly investments and the national rollout of a recycling incentive scheme being piloted by the Tory-controlled Windsor and Maidenhead Council which offers vouchers for retailers such as Marks & Spencer, and claims to have boosted recycling by 30%.
"Let's be honest: we have still not seen action - either at home or abroad - that is in any way proportionate to the scale of the environmental crisis that we are facing," he said.
Vowing to make the Treasury the driver of green policy, he went on: "How telling that Alistair Darling has not given a single major speech on the environment for two years now.
"That attitude is going to change if the Government changes."
But the Liberal Democrats said Mr Osborne's words masked a failure to back action.
Energy spokesman Simon Hughes said: "George Osborne's decision to back a 10% cut in the emissions of Government departments is a good idea now and was a good idea one month ago when he and his leader failed to vote for a Liberal Democrat motion that would have done exactly this.
"It's a pity the Tories' deeds so often fail to match their words. Just weeks ago, the entire Conservative group shamefully walked out of a London Assembly meeting to tackle CO2 emissions in London, preventing the capital from signing up to 10:10.
"If the Tories want to learn about local best practice on the environment, they should look to Liberal Democrat councils who have led the way in greening Britain's cities."
Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: "This so-called greening of the Treasury involves no new money.
"The truth is the Tories have opposed Labour's extra public investment, including the £400 million allocated at the time of the Budget for new green industries, so why should anyone believe a piece of greenwash from George Osborne?"
