Group to propose issuance of climate change bonds to Govt

Climate Change Capital is meeting with Government proposing the issuance of climate bonds, which are being likened to war bonds.

Vice chairman of the specialist investment management group James Cameron was meeting with a special adviser to the Prime Minister last week and is tabling a discussion with Treasury officials.

He is hoping to capture some of the focus towards climate change issues, which have been included in various stimulus packages to garner interest in his idea.

"I think here in the UK it would be attractive to present to the public an opportunity to invest in a better future," he says.

Cameron draws comparisons to during the war when investments in war bonds reached £1.7m.

He says: "Collection points were everywhere and the country was urged to do its patriotic duty and dip into its own savings, however meagre, and lend to the Government."

He believes climate change development in the UK will fail to reach its targets without large amounts of investment, saying this plan could help fill potential funding holes.

Cameron says: "People in the know realise there is a problem between targets that look sensible and the capacity to meet those targets.

"The question is whether Government has the political will and institutional capacity to solve that problem now, and I think this is one way you could do it."

He also believes the issues around climate change will not fade from people's agendas simply because their minds are distracted by issues such as the state of the economy and job losses.

"You can not ever describe climate change as a fad. If you have a problem driven by hard science, it does not go away as media attention switches to something else," adds Cameron.

Although he admits his idea would need a lot of development before implementation would be plausible, he is confident in its validity.

"More work needs to be done to test public attitudes and the level of demand. We would need to talk to the pension funds to see whether this is a product they would support.

"In the end it really depends on Downing Street being closely aligned on this topic."