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David Cameron: Green light for eco tech start-ups
It's not easy being green

By Jo Best

Published: Monday 05 January 2009

Conservative leader David Cameron has today set out plans that could see green tech start-ups get a helping hand from any future Tory government.

In a speech today, Cameron revealed a series of measures designed to tackle the sluggish economy, including the creation of incubators for green technology companies.

Green IT from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more...

A is for Abroad
B is for Blades
C is for Carbon footprint
D is for Data centres
E is for Energy sources
F is for Freecycle
G is for Government
H is for Homeworking
I is for Ice caps
J is for Jobs (Steve)
K is for Kilowatts
L is for Landfill
M is for Mercury
N is for Nanogeneration
O is for Offsetting
P is for Paperless office
Q is for Queen
R is for Recycling
S is for SmartPlanet.com
T is for Travel
U is for Upgrade
V is for Virtualisation
W is for WEEE
X is for Xmas
Y is for You
Z is for Zero emissions

The party has released a consultation on the green tech market, which aims to "unleash environmental entrepreneurship across Britain, by giving companies advice and services, including expert guidance on intellectual property protection, legal issues and drawing in venture capital with the aim of creating a new generation of world-beating start-ups to rival anything going on right now in Silicon Valley", Cameron said.

According to the Tory leader, the UK has just five per cent of the green goods and services market, trailing the likes of France, Germany, Japan and the US.

"We've got to do better - a lot better," Cameron said.

The Conservatives also detailed plans to introduce a green index to trade the shares of companies doing business in the environmental sector from the UK and around the world.

"Our green tech incubators will help new green start-ups get off the ground and then the world's first environmental stock market will give companies access to the investment they need to flourish and grow," Cameron said.

According to recent research by Ernst and Young, as of 30 June 2008, there were 48 private venture capital backed green tech companies in the UK with a total of $426m in VC money behind them.

Last year, cleantech made up around 11 per cent of all venture capital investment worldwide, up from 1.6 per cent in 2003.