Simon Mingay, research vice-president of environmental sustainability issues at the firm, explained that the situation is difficult for companies in the sector.
He pointed out that they will be reluctant to commit serious investment to an environmentally-friendly technology before there is a project to apply it to, but in many cases local and national authorities are proving slow to come up with opportunities.
Mr Mingay described it as a "chicken and egg situation", where it is not clear which side will get the ball rolling by making the first move.
"The ICT industry will invest when they've got someone putting up money to do it. Any investment in the industry ahead of projects being put on the table is very, very limited," he commented.
His comments were made following research by Greentech Media, which indicated that venture capital investment deals in green projects went up in 2009.
