The UK Green Investment Bank will inject £15 billion into green projects within four years, claims deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

During a speech at Climate Change Capital in London, Clegg announced that the bank would be able to make investments by April 2012 and would be set up under legislation to give it independence from ministers.

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It was also claimed that the bank would be able to borrow from the private sector and in capital markets by 2015 and will receive a guaranteed £3 billion from the Treasury as an initial capital.

Reducing the nation’s carbon footprint

Speaking to The Guardian, Clegg claimed that the bank would cement the coalition’s commitment to reducing the nation’s carbon footprint.

He said: “We are determined this organisation will be part of the institutional architecture of this country.

“The green investment bank will go from an idea to a flow of investment in under two years, and quickly grow into an independent investing, and then borrowing, institution. A real legacy of the coalition government’s green commitment.”

The bank is likely to invest heavily in interior and external cladding to increase the energy efficiency of residential and business properties throughout the UK.

A report from The Belfast Telegraph claims that the institution would be the world’s first public bank dedicated to green practices.