Circular Economy

Lord Suri Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Suri (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for securing this debate. This is an issue of great salience today, when the growth opportunities of tomorrow lie in the circular economy, and in a society that produces less waste and pollution than the current one. It is clear that bold thinking will be required from many spheres of civil society, not just public spheres. The Government have made some good strides towards making sure that renewable technology can achieve the necessary levels of efficiency for it properly to replace fossil fuels in the future.

One such example is the recently privatised Green Investment Bank. I believe that the progression of this concept provides a useful road map to the future of the circular economy. The bank started off as an idea in the Commons Climate Change Committee, and became an eponymous banking identity in the last Parliament. While being more of a fund than a bank, it has shown itself capable of making significant investments, such as an £11 million biomass plant in Port Talbot, among others. Crucially, it is profitable, as of the last financial year. This is important because encouraging the circular economy must be done in a way that does not put extremely high burdens on taxpayers, and it must be liable to market forces in order to fulfil that. The Business Secretary has put forward plans to part-privatise the bank in the future, and I look forward to this, as it will be able to access more capital and international investment, and continue its good work on a much larger scale.

We can see from this example that it is very possible for a commercially viable project—rather than the Government—to lead the future. Of course, the third sector and government will play a role, but I expect that businesses will drive the change. As in this case, government should play a nurturing and supportive role. This can be done in a variety of ways, possibly with a wider range of subsidies or grants to incentivise research and development in renewables.

As a businessman myself, I know that the private sector will want to have the biggest possible role in the growth markets of tomorrow, and so I encourage the Government to look at more ways of supporting businesses in their endeavours to create more sustainable technologies.