Qatar teams up with Carbon Trust on £250m cleantech fund

Qatar has become the latest Middle East oil producer to signal its interest in the cleantech sector, signing an agreement with the UK's Carbon Trust that will result in the creation of a new £250m low carbon investment fund.

The move, which echoes the Abu Dhabi government's Masdar project, will see the Qatar Investment Authority invest £150m into the fund, alongside an undisclosed sum from the UK government-backed Carbon Trust. The fund will also look for further investments to take the total to £250m.

The fund will initially focus on cleantech investment opportunities in the UK and Europe, but the agreement also includes a commitment to undertake a feasibility study into developing a low carbon innovation centre in Qatar that could attract some of the funding.

Welcoming the agreement, prime minister Gordon Brown said the partnership was a practical example of the kind of initiatives that are required to help oil producing countries diversify their economies to prosper in a low carbon world.

Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband also welcomed the deal, claiming it would prove mutually beneficial to both countries. "It will use British expertise in renewable technology, matching it with investment from Qatar and the private sector in Britain," he said. "It will help us take another step on the road to a green revolution."