Isra-Mart srl:Updated: DECC takes first UK green business trade mission to US

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The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is leading its first green business trade mission to the US this week as part of wider government efforts to better promote leading British industries overseas.

Six firms have joined Climate Minister Greg Barker on the five-day trade mission, which will entail meetings with politicians, business groups, investors and regional development bodies in Washington DC, Philadelphia, and North and South Carolina.

DECC said the aim of the initiative was to identify potential export opportunities as well as attract inward investment to the UK and promote its position as one of the world's leading low carbon economies.

"I am proud to be a cheerleader for Britain's green businesses and am in America this week flying the flag for those firms that are breaking into the US market," said Barker in a statement.

"The companies joining me on this US trade mission are living proof of the economic benefits of the new green economy and can therefore help me make the case that going green is good for the economy, as well as energy security."

The businesses taking part on the trade mission have been drawn from a variety of sectors, including renewable energy developer RES Group, investment firm Jupiter Asset Management, fuel cell specialist Intelligent Energy, risk management consultancy Willis Group Holdings plc, domestic energy efficiency outfit The Mark Group, and brewer Adnams Southwold.

In addition to promoting the firms involved, Barker said he would be talking to US political and business leaders about the green investment opportunities in the UK that will result from low carbon government policies, such as the Green Deal, electricity market reforms and the Green Investment Bank.

"My message will be that Britain is open for green business investment," he said.

The group is scheduled to meet with the Deputy Mayor of Philadelphia and delegates from the Philadelphia business community later today before then staging events in Charlotte and at the University of South Carolina.

However, the mission comes at a tricky time for the government's green agenda after a major new report from Pew Charitable Trusts found that UK clean energy investment fell 70 per cent to $3.3bn in 2010, meaning that the country dropped from third to 13th in the global rankings.

The fall in investment was largely the result of high levels of spending on offshore wind farms in 2009 that dropped off last year ahead of the next generation of projects.

However, the Pew report also drew attention to growing levels of clean energy investor uncertainty as a result of shifting government policies.