Al Gore Lands Another $683 Million For Green Investment

Generation Investment Management — the investment firm chaired by former Vice President and all around green guy Al Gore — announced over the weekend that it has set up an investment fund for green start-ups. The new Climate Solutions Fund reportedly has $683 million in its coffers. This announcement comes on the heels of last week’s new fund from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers — a venture capital firm in which Gore has a significant leadership role. Reportedly, a sizable amount of the $500-million Kleiner Perkins fund came from Generation.

Between these two new funds, both Generation's CEO, David Blood, and Gore are heavily invested in developing green businesses. While their exact  investments have not been disclosed, they’ve made it clear that they’re putting their money where their mouths are: Blood told the Financial Times that he believes that green investments are the only way to go in a tough market:

"A fear expressed by some is that the first thing to go in a downturn is the nice-to-have sort of investment. Some people put green investments in that category, but we think that is nonsense. This is not nice-to-have - it is fundamental finance . . . because the transition from a high-carbon to a low-carbon economy is a ginormous step that is going to happen quickly.”