Sustainability
Green Investment Handbook

UK GIB launches 'Green Investment Handbook' ... The handbook attempts to provide a practical template for businesses looking to make green investments

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

UK GIB launches 'Green Investment Handbook'

The handbook attempts to provide a practical template for businesses looking to make green investments

The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has published its 'Green Investment Handbook', outlining the processes that underpin its investment decisions.

The handbook attempts to provide a practical template for businesses looking to make green investments.

It includes a series of guidelines, from guidance on due diligence and a 'green context calculator', to details of how GIB manages and uses green data.

GIB head of sustainable finance Gavin Templeton said the handbook would attract more capital to companies looking to accelerate the transition to a greener economy.

Templeton said: 'One of the questions most asked of us is 'how we do green' at the Green Investment Bank - the handbook answers that. This is our manual, setting out and explaining the practical tools we use day-in, day-out. I hope it will make a significant contribution to the wider movement to improve the standardisation of green impact assessment across the investment community.'

Green leader

Since its launch in 2012, the GIB has mobilised more than £5bn of investment in green projects such as energy-from-waste plants and onshore wind farms. Its reputation for thorough and sustainable investing has allowed it generate £3 of private investment for every £1 of GIB capital.

Templeton told edie in a recent phone interview: 'When we started out, people were asking what was wrong with a project if the GIB invested in it. Now they think something is wrong if we're not investing.'

Best practice

David Gudgin, a partner at Albion Ventures - one of the largest independent venture capital investors in the UK, managing approximately £245 million, said: 'Pension funds recognise GIB's approach as best practice and the Green Investment Handbook has already helped attract new investment into Albion Community Power.

'We are implementing GIB's green monitoring and reporting requirements and see the publication as a significant step in de-risking investment and adding value to the sector.'

Funding sustainability at Sustainability Live 2015

The Green Investment Bank's head of sustainable finance Gavin Templeton will feature among an expert panel discussing funding sustainability at our brand new high-level Conference at Sustainability Live 2015 in April. The panel will explore how to get access to funding and the types of funding available - public and private.

Find out more and register to attend the Sustainability Live 2015 Conference for free here.

Brad Allen

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