Cleantech investors flock to Asian market amid hopes of a growth boom

Cleantech investors are flocking to the Asian market amid expectations that the Asian environmental market is on the brink of a growth boom. Following the launch of its Asian environmental investment trust, Impax Asset Management believes that a growing need for electricity will make Asia a hot global contender for a cleantech explosion.

Continuous industrialisation and urbanisationin in certain Asian regions, particularly China, is putting immense pressure on urban infrastructure and rising demand for energy efficient methods.

As a result, China recently announced plans to improve the energy efficiency of its factories, homes and power plants and has pledged to increase renewable energy to 15 per cent of the total energy use by 2020.

In addition, Korea’s recent stimulus package has devoted 80 per cent to environmental issues, while the Japanese government appears to be far more vocal on environmental goals than its predecessors.

Furthermore, the Australian government has also taken a crucial step in boosting renewable energy growth, by mandating a 20 per cent renewable energy target by 2020, which could potentially unleash AU$22bn of investment into the sector.

Impax Asset Management said Asian companies are supplying expanding global environmental markets due to their relatively low manufacturing costs.

Bruce Jenkyn-Jones said, ‘We believe the environmental sector has shown overall resilience so far to the global economic slowdown and we are optimistic this will continue, particularly with the growing interest in energy/ climate change issues and strong policy response to rising environmental problems.

‘Our analysis of the environmental market as a whole has revealed there is a lag between Asian environmental stocks and the rest of Europe. Our aim is to capitalise on this rapidly developing sector with its abundance of exciting undervalued companies, and raise the profile of the Asian environmental market to a position commensurate with its huge growth potential.’

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