Turner should give green light to banks
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John Murray consulting editor Lending Strategy
When I was young green beings came from Mars and were hell-bent on destroying this planet but these days it’s Earthlings who are green and firmly focussed on saving Mother Earth.
Lord Adair Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, is also chairman of the government’s Committee on Climate Change, which explains his contribution to Do Good Lives Have to Cost the Earth?, a collection of essays on the green challenge by academics, environmentalists and business people.
In his essay Turner says that growth has to be dethroned if the planet is to survive.
“At a global level the growing population, on average increasingly rich, is imposing an unsustainable burden on the environment,” he writes. “Increasing demands for fresh water are destroying fragile ecosystems and in some cases threaten conflict.”
Apparently, the solution is “dethroning the maximisation of measured gross domestic product as an end in itself”.
On the other hand, a report from the Committee on Climate Change suggests there is a chance for lenders to get engaged in the fight to save the planet.
For example, it argues that energy efficiency in homes could be improved by 35% by 2020 with an insulation programme.
It’s odd that Turner doesn’t consider that lenders could help to fund energy efficiency improvements but given his mindset as a regulator it must be hard for him to see banks as allies.
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