Mark Lazarowicz: Edinburgh's the place for Green bank to grow

A policy supported by all major parties in the recent UK general election was the establishment of a Green Investment Bank for the UK. A flavour of what such a body might do can be found in the report by the Green Investment Bank Commission, an independent group convened by the Chancellor. It suggested such a bank could:

• Unlock project finance for low-carbon technologies and infrastructure;

• Create green bonds to access capital held by institutional investors;

• Sell green ISAs, allowing individuals to help fund green infrastructure.

The government has not yet said which of the ideas from this commission, and many other sources, it will take forward, and how.

Nevertheless, given that estimates of the potential of the low-carbon economy for the UK as a whole range from 500 billion to 1,000bn, it is clear the Green Investment Bank could become a very important player in both the financial and low-carbon industrial sectors. Suggestions for the initial capital to be made available to it range from 2bn to 20bn.

One question will be where the new body should be located. Some will assume its natural home will be in London. That is an assumption which

I believe must be vigorously challenged.

There is hardly anywhere in the UK with a better case for the headquarters of such a bank than Edinburgh. We have expertise in financial services, and leading financial institutions that might help form the nucleus of the bank's financial services activities.

Edinburgh is already the location of a large number of businesses in the low-carbon sector. And we have world-leading academic and research centres, which help create a "critical mass" which could maximise the impact of a Green Investment Bank, to the benefit not just of Edinburgh and for Scotland, but the UK.

We need a cross-party, cross-institutional campaign to put the case for Edinburgh, and for Scotland. Getting the bank located here will not be easy – but the prize in economic activity and jobs could be high indeed.

l Mark Lazarowicz is Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith.