Julian Smith: We can profit for the future by winning battle over Green Investment Bank base

During the industrial revolution, water wheels at mills on rivers and streams powered the growth of the region. It is one of the oldest and still most successful uses of green technology to power business and shows why the North of England and particularly Yorkshire should be top of the list when it comes to deciding where the Green Investment Bank should be based.

The Green Investment Bank is, rightly, one of the coalition’s key commitments. The belief is that a series of government interventions to get renewable technology more widespread is not enough, a new institution is what is needed. It will operate at arm’s length from the Government and build deep expertise in financial markets of green investments.

Those aims are best served by putting the bank’s headquarters in a part of the country that already has the desire, the expertise and the infrastructure to make it a success. That part of the country is Yorkshire.

There are many pioneering schemes to highlight. Yorkshire’s first community funded hydro-electric plant is in Settle and is producing electricity. It has won national awards for its innovative approach. Some of the largest wood pellet biomass production facilities are in North and East Yorkshire. In Pickering, a 500kW biomass plant is in operation. Hull is already a hub for offshore wind. And, the UK’s first carbon and capture trial will begin at Ferrybridge Power Station in West Yorkshire later this year.

Yorkshire has the green credentials. It also has the financial acumen. It is a key financial centre, second only to London in terms of importance. The county also has a diversity of expertise from pioneering regional organisations like the Skipton Building Society to bases of some of the most well-known names on the international financial stage.

The hub of this activity is Leeds where 120,000 people work in the financial and business services sector in the city with more than 30 national and international banks based there. Organisations like the White Rose Universities Centre for Low Carbon Futures, Craven College’s Sustainable Development Centre and CO2 Sense are pioneers in the field of supporting and investing in economically sustainable businesses in the green and low carbon sectors. The city also has available and affordable office space and potential employees with the skill sets to make the Green Investment Bank the success it deserves to be. There is a portfolio of high quality, low carbon buildings just waiting to be used. The links to other parts of the country also mean Yorkshire can be at the centre of the country’s renewable energy ambitions.

Leeds is connected by the East Coast mainline to London, the road network allows easy access north, south, east and west. Fourteen million people are within two hours travel time from Leeds and there are five-and-a-half million people in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.

Yorkshire also has some of the most spectacular natural landscapes and the residents who live within such beautiful parts of the world need little convincing about the benefits of protecting it for the future.

The battle to bring it to Yorkshire will not be easy though. We are up against stiff competition, from cities such as Edinburgh and London and Bristol. We need Members of Parliament from every party, local councils from every part of the region, green organisations, business organisations and the financial sector to pull together and join our campaign. We need to be clear about why our bid is better than the others, we need to work on the areas where other cities may say they have the advantage.

The Green Investment Bank is an exciting opportunity to develop technologies that will produce renewable and sustainable energy that is vital for our country for the future. Yorkshire is already leading the way in that effort. It is the ideal location for this important new organisation. Over the coming months we will be making the case loud and clear.

Julian Smith is Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon