Widespread reports suggest that finalisation of the £2.3 billion sale of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) is expected today and that an official announcement is imminent.
Nick Hurd, Minister of State for Climate Change and Industry, is expected to formally announce the sale, which has already provoked wide ranging criticism and accusations of potential asset stripping by the buyer.
The government’s decision to sell the Edinburgh-headquartered bank to a consortium led by Australian investment bank Macquarie was backed by a London High Court ruling earlier this month.
The ruling followed a request by Sustainable Development Capital LLP for a judicial review of the planned sale after it failed to gain preferred bidder status.
Commenting this morning, Dr Doug Parr, Policy Director at Greenpeace UK, said:
"At a time when the government should be shoring up low carbon industry for post-Brexit Britain, they have given away one of our key tools for advancing green technologies. The hole left by the Green Investment Bank will slow our transition to a clean energy system, set us back on reaching our climate targets, and mean more of the jobs from new sectors will go elsewhere.”
“If the government picks up its pace, the UK could be a world leader in renewable and green technology. But selling a great British success story, which levered private money into eco-projects, to a controversial Australian bank known for asset-stripping, is a disaster. We need investment in the booming clean technology industry in the UK, for skilled jobs, fairer bills and a healthy economy to see us through the next uncertain few years and in to the future."
Earlier this year Keith Brown, the Scottish cabinet secretary for the economy wrote to Nick Hurd saying:
“Reports have indicated that the completion of the transaction process will result in the complete break-up of the current Green Investment Bank portfolio and may result in an asset-stripping exercise with significant financial rewards for any new owner. This is deeply troubling.”
Since being set up in 2012, the Bank has backed 99 green infrastructure projects, including a significant number of anaerobic digestion schemes, committing £3.4 billion into transactions worth £12 billion.