Climate change investments to tackle financial crisis

Widespread investment in renewables and sustainable technology could help tackle the current global economic slump, according to an organisation chaired by former US vice president Al Gore.

Speaking at the Reuters Global Environment Summit this week, Cathy Zoi, chief executive of the Alliance for Climate Protection, said that if the US focused on climate change as soon as the new president took office, it could help avert fears of a global recession.

"My very strong belief is that we need to re-orient our investments toward this transition to a clean-energy economy, and it will be the engine of growth for getting us out of the doldrums that we are in right now," said Zoi, according to Reuters reports.

However, before the US can really reap any financial benefits from cleantech investments and green business models, the government has to tackle carbon emissions: "Unless we take action at home, we will not be able to have much influence in the international arena about what gets done," said Zoi.

Despite the current economic and financial turmoil which will certainly hit sustainable investments to some degree, both US presidential candidates appear to be firmly behind sustainable technology and giving the US energy independence from foreign oil imports. During the second candidate debate this week, Barack Obama and John McCain reiterated their support for measures designed to cut carbon emissions and enhance US energy security.

A survey released early this month by consultancy giant Ernst & Young also appears to show that investments in clean technology and greener business models were riding out most of the effects of the economic crisis. The report into the investments of 150 of the world's biggest companies found that 90 per cent are now undertaking climate change initiatives with disclosed financial commitments of $276bn (£161bn) over the next decade.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com this month about whether the global downturn will affect its renewables business, Mete Maltepe, GE Energy's global wind sales leader, said that while there might be some short-term difficulty, the long-term projection for the company's renewable business was good. "Our view of what is going on in the markets is that in the short term there is turmoil and projects will be delayed, but the fundamentals are that people need energy and governments support renewable projects," he said. "Wind energy projects are quality projects and when credit is tight, money usually goes to quality projects."