Minister Richard Bruton, TD, at the Sustainability Gathering 2013 in Dublin Castle. Photo by Paul Kelly
Managers of Ireland’s ‘green’ assets – the physical and financial assets in the green economy – secured more than €3bn in funding this year. On the back of this, more than 40 jobs have been created and 120 are expected to follow.
Ireland’s green assets include investment in the water and renewable energy sectors and this investment will go towards funding renewable projects being led by Irish companies both domestically and around the world.
BNRG, Power Capital, Mainstream and Gaelectric collectively created more than 40 jobs during the year, and this funding is anticipated to create a further 120 construction jobs over the next two years.
Sustainability Gathering
This announcement was made during the Sustainability Gathering, which took place on Thursday, 12 December, at Dublin Castle. More than 300 professionals from the green economy in areas from policy, finance and enterprise were in attendance, as well as the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD.
“This demonstrates Irish innovation and leadership in the moves to a low-carbon economy,” said Bruton.
Further announcements
Also during the event, Stephen Nolan, chair of the Sustainability Gathering, announced that the Green International Financial Services Centre (GIFSC) – a public/private initiative to promote Ireland as a world-leading centre for environmental finance – has a target of increasing environmental assets under management or serviced from Ireland from US$20bn to US$200bn by 2017.
“It is no surprise that Forbes in recent days ranked Ireland best country for business,” said Nolan. “This target is achievable due to the combination of two additional key factors: a world-class renewables and clean-tech enterprise sector and the existence of a world-class international financial services centre. This combined expertise is what sets Ireland apart from other competitors.”
Additional announcements made at the Sustainability Gathering included the launch of Mainstream Capital by Mainstream Renewable Power to gain access to capital and cheaper rates, and SCDL being the preferred bidder to manage the Government’s €70m Irish efficiency fund, which would see €35m investment from the State matched by the world’s largest Government-backed energy efficiency fund manager.
