The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) launches a competition to encourage Britain’s youngest inventors to think green when coming up with new ideas.

Recent research by the UK-IPO shows the UK is among the world’s leading nations for eco-friendly inventions, ranking in the top six for the number of energy saving inventions. The table is headed by Japan followed by China, America, Germany and Korea.

The competition targets young inventors to keep Britain in top league of green inventors

The UK-IPO is committed to encouraging green innovation and is using the Cracking Ideas 2008 competition as a focus for the launch of its flagship education project for primary school aged children.

Cracking Ideas offers teachers resources and activities for the classroom through their website, the resources link to a nationwide competition to find the inventors of tomorrow. Children aged 9-11 will be encouraged to come up with a new invention - with the emphasis on something eco friendly.

The campaign is backed by Oscar® winners Wallace & Gromit and uses inspiration from their new film A Matter of Loaf and Death and features their own green inventions. Prizes for the winning schools include a special screening of the new film.

Minister for Intellectual Property Baroness Delyth Morgan said it was an important initiative to get children thinking about innovation at an early age.

“Cracking Ideas is fantastic for encouraging primary school aged children to innovate. It’s great that this year we are getting children to think about green innovations.

The UK is proud of its innovating tradition and our work on energy saving devices. Cracking Ideas keeps us at the forefront of this vital field.

We are very fortunate that Wallace and Gromit and Aardman Animations have played a part in bringing this exciting project to life in our schools, and I would like to thank them for their support,” she said.

Trevor Baylis, one of Britain’s most famous inventors, has also recently launched the innovative Eco Media Player. The inventor of the Wind-up Radio has brought the idea to a modern media player which stores 500 songs and comes with a radio and torch. It plays music for 20 hours before it needs to be charged - and this is done by cranking a fold-up handle at the rear rather than plugging it in. More…

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) is the government body responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the national framework of intellectual property rights (IPRs) (patents, designs, trade marks and copyright) and the granting and management of rights within that framework. UK-IPO leads and promotes UK interests in European and international efforts to harmonise and simplify IP law.

You still have a chance to nominate the winner of the Observer Ethical Awards, which are held in association with Ecover. Entires for this years nominations must be in by March 14th 2008. This is the 3rd year Awards that give everyone the chance to promote their favourite socially and environmentally ethical enterprise. There are 10 categories of award, four of which: Best Local Retailer, Best Supermarket or Online Retailer, Campaigner and Politician of the Year, Ethical Kids Award, are determined by public vote. Other awards include Conservation Project of the Year, Ethical Business of the Year and Fashion Product or Accessory of the Year are judged by an expert panel from eco designers to sustainability academics and eco architects. There are prize funds of £500 - £2000 to be won & the exposure of winning the award can be a real help to small businesses. Projects can download promotional materials and you can vote here

The Virgin Climate Change Fund is an actively managed fund, that invests predominantly in Europe, and offers investors the opportunity to invest in companies taking an environmental lead in their industries.  Investors get the chance to make improved returns whilst making a positive impact on the environment. As more and more people vote with their wallets, and choose cleaner, greener products and services, research demonstrates that cleaner, greener companies are performing better and better, and are becoming more likely to give you the best returns on your investment. Polluting companies now face increasing costs and penalties, so those companies that are adopting good environmental practices are gaining a competitive advantage.

The Virgin Climate Change Fund managers identifiy the best stocks from an economic returns point of view, in all industries, and then ‘cherry pick’ the best from each industry from an environmental standpoint. This ‘all sectors’ approach offers the chance to not only outperform most other ‘green’ funds, but other traditional non-environmental methods of stock picking too.

The Virgin Climate Change Fund has a minimum opening investment of £500 & investors can pay in lump sums of £100 or regular monthly savings of £50 or more. No notice is required to get your money out so you can access you savings straight away.

As Virgin put it: “No investor wants to trade performance for a pat on the back. Yet no one can ignore the impact of climate change on the world our children will inherit. The Virgin Climate Change Fund offers the perfect solution, providing the opportunity to make investment capital out of helping the planet.”

Get more information on the Virgin Climate Change Fund here

An internet network offers facilities to encourage investment in environmental technologies and services to help British entrepreneurs, inventors & companies find finace to help them solve various environmental challenges, such as climate change, water pollution and waste.

 ‘The Environmental Investment Network’ brings together private and corporate investors with organisations looking for funding to support green projects, such as the development of low carbon technologies, eco-friendly waste management systems and advanced water treatment methods.

Set up by leading environmental law firm Clarkslegal, & The Environmental Industries Commission (EIC), and sponsored by Lloyds TSB and intellectual property specialists Mathys & Squire, the Environmental Investment Network (EIN) aims to play a part in helping to meet the significant challenges and opportunities identified in the Stern Review.

By facilitating the raising of finance (equity and debt) and providing support, information and networking opportunities to investors seeking investment opportunities and to companies, social enterprises and academic institutions seeking investment.

The EIN enables organisations to submit proposals for funding, where they can be viewed by investor members on a secure website.

Simon Thorne, of Clarkslegal, explains: “The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change calls for immediate action to be taken to invest in low carbon technologies in order to reduce the effects of climate change.  It also emphasises that significant business opportunities will be created from the development of new markets in environmental technologies and that the investment that takes place in the next 10 - 20 years will have a profound effect on the climate. It is predicting that new low carbon energy markets could grow to be worth hundreds of billions of pounds each year, so now is the time to invest in the environment.

“Securing funding however is often a major hurdle for those wishing to develop environmental technologies.  Venture capital funds and institutional investors tend to focus on large companies preparing for listing on the Alternative Investment Market or projects in excess of five million pounds. Support for smaller and medium size businesses, social enterprises and educational institutions is urgently required.”

Adrian Wilkes, Chairman of The EIC, adds: “This is a vital new service for the UK’s environmental industry, which is dominated by SMEs who often have problems raising growth finance – it will help them seize the huge new business opportunities in the fast-growing worldwide environmental markets and so boost the UK’s international competitiveness.

“As Gordon Brown recently predicted the environmental industry would become ‘as big as the successful aerospace or pharmaceuticals sector’. But there is a real need amongst young environmental technology firms to have more interaction with the financial sector. This initiative will help improve the quality of deal flow. This is a unique service for the UK’s environmental industry, nothing else like this exists.”

For investors, the opportunity to invest in early-stage ventures is only one of the benefits received as a member. Not only will investor members be able to view high-quality funding proposals and engage in face-to-face meetings with those who have submitted proposals, but also have the opportunity to secure introductions to like-minded investors wishing to form syndicate groups. 

Those who submit proposals will also have the opportunity to present their proposals to investors at regularly held investment meetings and receive, prior to the investment meetings, presentation training, IP advice and support from the network sponsors. Additional benefits include access to the network’s knowledge bank and the opportunity to attend seminars and training events.

Stephen Pegge, head of communications, Lloyds TSB Business, said: “The demand for environmentally friendly products and services is set to increase dramatically and the financial potential for investors is significant based on the initial market estimate for low-carbon energy products of at least $500 billion dollars by 2050.

“We want to support our small and medium sized businesses in developing environmental projects through access to risk capital alongside commercial finance from us. In supporting the Environmental Investment Network, not only do we get a forum for bringing green projects and investors together but it also provides a support network to both parties.”

http://www.environmentalinvest.com/