for Sunday Herald, 25 July 2010
The UK government will be urged
this week to green the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) so that nearly £200 billion
can be invested in wind farms, electric cars and high-speed rail networks over
the next decade.
A report to be published tomorrow will urge ministers not to scrap plans for public investment in a new environmentally-friendly bank. Instead, campaigners say, they should transform RBS into a vehicle for backing clean technology across the world.
The report was written by a former PricewaterhouseCoopers consultant, James Leaton, for two groups campaigning to cut climate pollution, the World Development Movement (WDM) and Platform.
They have previously attacked RBS for backing companies involved in dirty fossil fuel industries, like the extraction of tar sands in Alberta in northern Canada.
“It would be completely irresponsible and short-sighted to scrap public investment in a low carbon economy,” warned WDM’s director, Deborah Doane.
“RBS is sitting on billions of pounds from the taxpayer which is going to finance dirty projects often linked to human rights abuses. The money we’ve invested in RBS should be directed towards green investment.”
She added: “It’s a no-brainer: not only wouldn’t it cost the taxpayer directly, it would boost the economy and create new jobs in the UK at a much-needed time.”
The report argues that turning RBS into the “Green Investment Bank” would create 50,000 new jobs a year, increase economic efficiency, cut carbon emissions and improve international competitiveness. And this wouldn’t increase the national budget deficit, it says.
According to Mel Evans from Platform in London, continued support for polluting fossil fuels via RBS would contradict the government’s environmental aims. “It undermines the potential of green investment to tackle climate change,” she said.
RBS has accepted that it invests in conventional energy companies, though it insisted the investment was not tied to specific projects. The bank has also made major investments in renewable technologies like wind, solar and biomass.
Last week, the UK government withdrew funding from several major green agencies, including the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC). This provoked a flurry of criticism from environmental groups.
The SDC, which has advised ministers on how to cut waste and pollution, is said to have saved the government far more money that it cost. It used to be headed by the well-known environmentalist, Jonathon Porritt.
The SDC’s future in Scotland, where it is funded by the Scottish government, has been thrown into doubt. “Scottish Ministers are now considering the best way forward for the SDC in Scotland, in discussion with the other devolved administrations,” said a government spokesman.
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