Two of world's richest nations crawl to catch up with VCs

In a bold move, the governments of the U.S. and Japan are proposing a global governmental fund to support cleantech research and development. This news bulletin comes to us from a meeting in Japan. So now both governments will say they are supporting cleantech ventures without really having to do anything except point to their press release.

Money earmarked: 0 Carbon offsets: co-operation promised Action taken: discussion

WE NEED HELP

Many of the poorer nations were in attendance at the environmental ministers' meeting in Kobe where the above announcement was made. Their take on global warming? Rich nations must show leadership and innovation. Here's what the Brazilian minister said about the need for research in wealthier nations: "Certainly the private sector has an important role to play... but we think that states also and governments have a role to play in helping developing countries to develop technology."

She should be reading this blog and others on cleantech, private sector is years and light-years ahead of any government on the planet. Brazil by the way is a leader in turning food crops into ethanol, from sugar cane to the fuel tanks of the world. Now that's innovation for you.