In a bid to boost green business ties with the U.K., a delegation of B.C. businesses is visiting London during the Olympics to explore green business partnership opportunities.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is leading the delegation.
Lee Malleau, CEO of the Vancouver Economic Commission, said, “Fostering partnerships between Vancouver and U.K. companies with expertise in the clean-tech space makes sense during the London 2012 Games, especially considering both Vancouver and London’s commitment to sustainability in all aspects of their development and delivery as host cities to the Olympic Games.”
While in London, the Vancouver companies are identifying potential opportunities for growth and investment in the U.K., which is the world’s sixth-largest market for low-carbon and environmental goods and services.
Current green business links between the two jurisdictions include a partnership between Vancouver-based Ostara, which has a technology to recover nutrients from wastewater and transform them into slow-release commercial fertilizer, and U.K. water and sewerage company Thames Water. The companies have partnered on a nutrient recovery facility for Thames Water, which will open this fall in the U.K.
Low-carbon U.K. companies with a Vancouver presence include U.K.-based hydropower turbine specialist Gilbert Gilkes & Gorden, which has an office in Vancouver.
