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Gore lures investors to finance green business |
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Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore has teamed up with a prestigious Silicon Valley venture capitalist to finance technologies fighting climate change. Meanwhile, global banking groups, like HSBC and Deutsche Bank, are increasing their investments in "green" business.
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2007-11-15
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2007 Nobel laureate Al Gore has become a partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) to fund "green" business and technologies addressing climate change. In a collaboration between his London-based Generation Investment Management fund and KPCB both companies will use their financial power and political expertise to help "accelerate the discovery of the best technologies" and drive something "bigger than the Industrial Revolution and significantly faster", as Gore puts it.
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According to John Doerr, partner at KPCB, by 2009 the company will have invested $200 million, or one third of its total fund, in technologies helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The cooperation with Gore could raise this figure to "many times that over the duration of this collaboration which we expect to be very long-lived." The new alliance marks a "turning point for climate entrepreneurs around the world," Doerr added.
The two firms will remain focused on separate activities, with KPCB investing in start-ups and Generation financing larger operations and later-stage companies focused on clean technologies. Main areas of investment will include transportation and building efficiency.
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Fight against climate change is investment "megatrend"
Over the past months, major banking groups have increased their investments in technologies needed for a low-carbon economy. For example, on 13 November, banking group HSBC announced a fund that contains firms dedicated to fight global warming. It is the second move towards a higher investment in "green" business after HSBC's recent launch of a Global Climate Change 100 Index, and a GIF Climate Change fund. "Investors are recognizing the importance of climate change and are showing interest in companies that seek to address the impact," global head of structured fund products Steven Phan said in a note.
Already in October, Deutsche Bank analysts acknowledged that government efforts to tackle climate change are creating “megatrend” investment opportunities for global investors. Deutsche Bank has attracted around €6 billion into climate change funds targeting firms with "green" products. "We believe the shift away from a carbon-based economy is a megatrend that will shape the asset management industry for many years," Kevin Parker, global head of asset management, said in a statement.
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