It is widely accepted that renewable energy is one of the next big investment areas, but even with the enthusiasm of investors today for this field, they are still missing the potential. According to the Ethical Investment Group, in order to sustain the world’s energy needs and reduce carbon, investment in renewable energy, carbon capture and storage must reach USD 500bn per year by 2020. Lets be honest, this is a big number.

The figure is confirmed by a 2008 UNEP ILO study, which shows that if the sustainable energy sector investment increases to a needed USD 630bn per year by 2030, the industry will sustain 20 million additional direct and indirect jobs.

It is easy to get lost in statistics and figures, but lets understand what this means. In the near future, the

renewable energy market will be almost as large as the whole economy of the Netherlands (ranked 16th in the world by the IMF). The jobs created would be enough to employ 2/3 of the UK’s working population (the 4th largest economy in the world). This is huge. However, we are in a situation where there is very little experience in the market, skills are scarce, investment is insufficient, while demand for clean energy is going through the roof across the globe. Obviously there is a discrepancy here. It gives a great chance for “arbitrage” where the money goes to place it is needed. There is a massive need for experience, skills and investment in this field. This is exactly why the Oxford Sustainable Group launched the Oxford Renewable Energy Fund 9.

Oxford has been working in renewable energy and sustainable development for the last 5 years, with its team members up to 15 years each and its partners even longer. We therefore have more skills and experience in this field than our peers in the CEE. We are leading the market with our sustainable knowledge and are considered “thought-leaders by the thought-leaders” in conferences we attend around Europe. In addition to teaching household names in banking, real estate, governments and investment

companies about how to “do sustainable” profitably and ethically, we have our own excellent track record – again leading the industry by returning higher sums to our investors than our peers.

What is clear is that during the next 5 years there will be supernormal profits in this sector, while skills, experience and knowledge catch up with the need and supply expands. Oxford is right here with our latest fund to capitalize on this opportunity for both investors and its own capital.

Hadley Barrett (Oxford Sustainable).