Hadley Barrett, CEO of the Oxford Sustainable Group, has welcomed the findings of the CBI's latest report, ‘Risky business, investing in the UK's low-carbon infrastructure', and urged the government to listen to the CBI's recommendations if it wants green investors to return to the UK.
‘Risky business, investing in the UK's low-carbon infrastructure' discusses the conditions that are necessary if the UK is to achieve a low-carbon economy; something which the CBI says is "vital to the UK's future".
The report details the results of third-party research, particularly that market and policy risks were cited as the greatest investment blocker. Many low-carbon technologies are reliant on government policies to make them work – for example the feed-in tariffs (FiTs). But the investment community views these government subsidies as "uncertain and susceptible to political change or ongoing tinkering" – something investors witnessed with the recent fast-track FiTs review.
With a renewable energy development portfolio of over €1.5bn, the Oxford Sustainable Group is one of Europe's leading independent renewable energy developers. In addition, it has advised the UK and Romania on the Copenhagen climate agreement, and Estonia on FiTs, making it well placed to comment on UK policy.
"The coalition government has pledged to be the greenest government ever. But as the CBI says, it's not enough just to be green – the UK needs to be green and growing. Investors are out there, but in the current climate, more than anything they need stability," Hadley Barrett said. "We have been successful in the UK because we were able to create a business model that offers value for both investors and consumers within the feed-in tariff framework. By changing the structure of these tariffs, the government's fast-track review has unfortunately damaged investor confidence.
"If the UK wants investors to return, the government must consider front and centre long-term stability in its policies."
