The Green Investment Bank (GIB) will contain £3 billion of Government money and hopes to provide capital for low carbon developments that could previously not get enough market funding. With regards to location, the bank’s head office will be located in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, and have investment staff placed in the UK capital of London.
The approval was granted by the European Commission since the GIB complied with EU state aid rules, and the bank is dues to be operational within the next few weeks. However unfortunately the bank will not be granted complete borrowing rights until 2015.
The idea of the GIB first was mentioned in March 2011 by UK chancellor George Osborne, who envisioned a UK green initiative with a budget of around £3 billion.