Green Investment Bank Plans Miss The Point?

The Government has recently published it’s latest Update on the design of the Green Investment Bank (GIB). This outlines how the new GIB should play a pivotal role in the transition to a low carbon economy. The good news is that there finally appears to be a national commitment to substantial investment into mitigation against the effects of climate change. The bad news is that there is no new support for small companies included in the proposals.

My Greener Home is in a fairly unique position - we’re a relatively small company but we simply don’t need the kind of funding the GIB might have promised. Yet I still believe the Government is making a fundamental, grave error in assuming that small and medium sized companies should not be given new funding opportunities. It seems completely illogical to exclude one of the very sectors that consistently provide a wealth of vital green innovations.

The update sets out the areas that the GIB will fund: Power; Renewable heat; Energy efficiency; Transport; and Waste and water. These include the very sectors in which innovation and new products often spring from small to medium businesses. For example, there are plenty of products which can dramatically improve energy efficiency around the home which have come from “smaller players” within the market. This seems a dramatic oversight on the Government’s part, given its stated commitment to the UK becoming a low carbon economy. The Climate Change Act requires the UK to reduce UK greenhouse gases by 34% within the next 19 years, and by 80% by the year 2050, compared to 1990 levels. Surely any actions which support this initiative should be embraced. Instead the GIB appears set to focus on larger scale projects, which seems baffling since larger corporations may not have the same need for funds to assist in research and development as their smaller cousins.