INVESTMENT 35 W
hen most people hear the words “low-carbon investment”, their minds conjure up images of technology – perhaps an off shore wind turbine or a new building material that
can dramatically improve energy effi ciency. ‘Green’ or ‘clean’ technology is a cornerstone of the low-carbon investment sector, but there is more to environmentally sustainable fi nance than fancy bits of kit. Environmental services are the other key element within what is often referred to as the “global environmental goods and services” sector. Although they have a lower profi le than environmental technology, especially in investment circles, those in the know are well aware of the crucial role played by service companies in the burgeoning green economy. But what are environmental services? Traditionally, companies
providing services such as drinking water and sewage treatment or waste and recycling collection have been seen as typical environmental services. But, while they remain important, since the 1980s the sector has developed enormously and these days the companies that sit within this broad category are as diverse as the environmental challenges they help to resolve. They include: contractors specializing in the remediation of contaminated land and groundwater; architectural fi rms focusing on the design of ultra-low-carbon buildings; multinational consultancies that provide highly technical advice to the world’s biggest corporations; and software companies with customized solutions for tracking and reporting the carbon emissions of complex organisations.
A growing market How big is this market? Estimates vary and few are comparable. Most freely available research unhelpfully lumps environmental goods (i.e. technology) and services together. More focused estimates tend to look at specifi c areas. So the global environmental consultancy market alone has been valued at just under $25bn (2009/10) by market intelligence provider, Environment Analyst. This would suggest a global environmental services sector many times larger. According to Environmental Business Journal, the US
environmental consulting and engineering sector was worth about $305bn in 2009, and Environment Analyst’s estimate of
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ISSUE 04. SEPTEMBER 2011
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