The former Director General of the private equity industry body the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) has given his backing to Guernsey on devising principles for green and sustainable investment for the PE sector.
Tim Hames held the top role at the BVCA for six years until last year.
"When we start to consider what the post-virus social and economic system should look like, it will be crystal clear that the need to contain climate change and the necessity of seeking sustainable finance will have been significantly enhanced, not eroded, by the current crisis," he writes in a foreword to the publication of Green Private Equity Principles from Guernsey Green Finance.
"The 'new normal' will involve deeper and harder questions about where we make products, how we move around, where we work from, how we conduct that work and to what ultimate end that work is a means."
Mr Hames said that the private equity sector must be at the forefront of green and sustainable finance and said that the PE principles would make a contribution to that goal.
"It has the enormous asset of simplicity. It is the most straightforward and succinct 'how to do it' manual. It can be a blueprint to GPs and LPs alike. It applies to all funds irrespective of their size. Private equity needs to think anew in the light of the crisis. This document is the right place to start."
Dr Andy Sloan, Deputy Chief Executive, Strategy, at Guernsey Finance and Chairman of Guernsey Green Finance, said:
"As a leading centre of sustainable finance and as Europe's leading specialist centre for servicing private equity, we felt well positioned to develop a set of green principles to provide straightforward guidance to private equity practitioners. We did so over the course of many months with the support of a group of committed professionals in the sector. We hope they will be of value in our collective fight against climate change."
The full report is available for download here: https://www.weareguernsey.com/literature/green-private-equity-principles/.
For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.weareguernsey.com.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
