The Green Investment Bank (GIB) launched in November 2012 as a fully government-owned institution with the aim of unlocking private investment in low-carbon and green sectors. In June 2015, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills announced that GIB would be moved into private ownership, arguing that this would allow it to operate in a wider range of green sectors and to finance more projects.
The GIB itself argues that capital from the UK Government will not be sufficient to sustain its level of investment in the future, and so welcomes the move. Some green groups and think tanks have been critical of the plan, warning that it will undermine the GIB's ability to meet its goals and that it will damage confidence in low-carbon sector investment more generally.