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Westminster City Council in partnership with ethical crowdfunding platform Abundance Investment, has launched Westminster Green Investment, to support local green projects and tackle climate change.
The new scheme will give residents a chance to invest in sustainable projects and green initiatives within the local community to support the council’s Fairer Environment target of becoming a net zero Council by 2030 and a net zero city by 2040.
The Westminster Green Investment is aiming to raise up to £1 million in the first round, to help fund a range of green projects within the local community to make it a greener, cleaner and healthier place for everyone to live.
Residents and businesses will be able to invest from as little as £5 and will earn returns of 4.2 per cent interest a year, across five years. The investment pays regular instalments of capital and interest every six months. Each payment will include interest and a portion of investors’ original investment.
Investors will also have the option to donate back their interest to fund additional green initiatives. The investment can also be held in an Innovative Finance ISA, which offers tax free returns. The Westminster Green Investment is being launched, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The money raised will be used to make a real difference and help fund a range of energy efficiency measures for council owned buildings or community owned sites, such as schools and community centres. Examples of green projects include:
- Installation of solar PV
- Glazing upgrades
- Draught proofing
- Light emitting diode (LED) lighting replacements
- Cooling improvements
- Heat pump technology
- Electronically commutated (EC) fan replacements
- Pipework insulattion.
The council recently published its Green Finance Framework, a voluntary standard which sets out how the council intends to manage its green projects in the future. This means that funds raised from the Westminster Green Investment can only be used to help deliver eligible green projects from within this framework.
Cllr David Boothroyd, Cabinet Member for Finance and Council Reform at Westminster City Council said: “The City of Westminster has some of the highest carbon emissions in the country by local authority area and we need to find ways to reduce city-wide emissions by 91,000 tonnes a year if we’re to meet our goal of being a net zero city by 2040.
“The council is committed to taking action on climate change – we declared a climate emergency in 2019 and have already introduced measures to reduce our own emissions including improving 450 council homes with energy efficiency measures, running climate education workshops in primary schools, installing energy conservation measures in over 60 council buildings and launching the council’s Environmental Justice Measure and Sustainable City Charter.
“We want to support residents and local businesses to make a positive impact in their neighbourhoods, by reducing their climate impact and improving the local environment and this new Westminster Green Investment scheme is one way that can help us reach our goal. Residents can invest as little as £5 to make a difference in supporting sustainable projects in their local area to create a cleaner, greener and fairer Westminster for everyone.”
Karl Harder, Joint Managing Director, Abundance Investment said: “Westminster’s Green Investment provides residents with the chance to show their support for their local council taking action on the climate emergency and earn a financial return that is relatively low risk. The fact that Westminster have signed up to the new Green Finance Framework aligns what they are doing with the UK Government Green Gilt and Green NS&I Bond programmes, and is an important step towards Green Council investments becoming a more widespread and regular part of any investor’s portfolio.”
With the current economic crisis resulting in higher prices and more of a squeeze on resources, FMs need to ensure that they have robust building and maintenance services in place to control costs and reduce the need for emergency repairs. When it comes to drainage and plumbing there are also the challenges of dealing with extreme weather, from droughts to flooding, the need to meet stringent regulations and to avoid causing environmental damage.
UK drainage specialist, Metro Rod, has launched a survey which explores the main areas of interest for FMs in maintaining drainage and plumbing, including how they currently assess their supply chains to ensure they’re working with partners that meet the highest possible standards and provide value for money.
The results will be published online so that you can see how you compare to others within the sector.
The survey should take just 5-10 minutes of your time, and as a thank you, you will be entered into a prize draw, where one lucky winner will be picked at random to receive a £100 Amazon voucher.
To take part click here.
