Private Investments in Green Sectors Top $2 Trillion

Private investments in green companies and technologies since 2007 now total more than $2 trillion globally, according to a new report.

Ethical Markets Media says the figure is significant because many studies indicate that investing $1 trillion annually until 2020 will accelerate the Green Transition worldwide to the necessary levels. This updated 2010 finding--noted in the Green Transition Scoreboard (GTS)--puts global renewable energy investing and countries on track to reach the $10 trillion in investments goal by 2020.

The figure represents non-government investments and commitments for all facets of green markets.

"This new total is remarkable in spite of economic uncertainty. It indicates that the global transition away from the 300-year fossil-fueled Industrial Era is accelerating toward the cleaner, greener, information-rich economies of the 21st century," Hazel Henderson, president of Ethical Markets Media said.

Timothy Nash, M.Sc., Senior Advisor to Ethical Markets Media, adds, "This over $2 trillion total does not include nuclear, 'clean' coal or CCS, nor biofuels from food or agricultural sources, which we consider unsustainable."

The figure also does not include deals under $100 million, which numbered in the thousands, according to Rosalinda Sanquiche, Ethical Markets Media's Executive Director and editor of the Green Transition Scoreboard report.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/22/idUS194268618220110222