The United Kingdom is urgently looking to raise tens of billions of pounds to meet its green investment targets by 2030. The country wants to raise a total of £57 billion for this, of which the new ruling party Labor has already committed £7.3 million.
Targets are set to help key industries grow greener, making the country less dependent on fossil energy. An added advantage is that more people can work in stable fields.
£7.3 billion will end up in a National Prosperity Fund, which will invest in ports, green hydrogen and factories aimed at electrifying the economy, so-called gigafactories. The plans were revealed in a report by a task force advising Prime Minister Keir Starmer on establishing the fund.
Private investments
Various private financial flows can also contribute to achieving investment goals. But according to the report, this may not be enough to fill the remaining investment gap. There could still be a gap of £35.9 billion and £56.9 billion. “Even if a clear policy direction is set and investors are given the certainty they need, the level of investment interest exceeds the range of commercial investors, leaving projects unfunded,” said Ryan-Marie Thomas, chief executive of the task force. .
Interests
For years, there has been debate in British politics about the United Kingdom setting up a sovereign wealth fund. The interests in which investments should be made also differ greatly between the political movements of Labor and the Conservatives. Politicians from both parties came up with different ideas for the structure of the fund. The Task Force suggests that capital funding may use various financial instruments such as equity capital and guarantees, but these do not provide pure grants as they do not provide expected returns.
