NEFCO finances the introduciton of environmentally friendly technologies in manufacturing industries in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Photo: NEFCO

19 Apr 2016

NEFCO: 25 years of supporting Nordic cleantech

The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. To commemorate this milestone occasion, NEFCO arranged a seminar on green growth with key note speakers and representatives from cleantech organisations, private enterprises and the public sector in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

“NEFCO has financed green growth projects for a quarter of a century. By arranging this seminar, we want to demonstrate that it pays off financially to invest in the environment”, said Magnus Rystedt, NEFCO’s Managing Director, at the seminar.

He pointed out that since the early 1990s NEFCO has been a forerunner in supporting cleantech by investing in wastewater treatment, energy efficiency, cleaner production, energy efficiency and prevention of air pollution.

Over the years, NEFCO has invested in over 600 projects supporting green growth and generating undisputable environmental benefits in a range of different sectors. In the past five years alone, projects co-financed by NEFCO have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 21.5 million tonnes. This corresponds to the emissions created by 9.4 million people flying from Copenhagen to New York and back. NEFCO’s investments in energy efficiency have in turn supported the reduction of electricity consumption by 56,110 gigawatt-hours: this corresponds to half of the net energy consumed annually in Norway.

The seminar was arranged on 12 April in Oslo, the capital of Norway. The event brought together experts and representatives of the Nordic cleantech community. Director Mari Pantsar from the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra pointed out that the growing cleantech markets are rapidly transforming the business environment on a global scale.

“The market for smart and clean solutions is expected to grow to at least EUR 6,000 billion by the year 2050. New market opportunities are emerging in low-carbon energy production and water supply, waste management and transport. Nordic companies have an unprecedented opportunity to become global forerunners in offering cleaner, more sustainable solutions”, Ms Pantsar said.

Part of the Nordic Finance Group and a sister organisation of NIB, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation is an international financial institution owned by the Nordic countries. The Corporation promotes both private and public projects that reduce environmentally harmful emissions and discharges, mitigate eutrophication in the Baltic Sea and combat climate change. NEFCO can offer loan and equity financing for cost-effective green projects in Eastern Europe: mainly in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Belarus. Furthermore, NEFCO provides support for the internationalisation of Nordic companies through the Nordic Project Fund.