A major new dedicated Scottish green finance initiative has been launched with the aim of unlocking up to £40 billion a year of investment into green projects across Scotland, driving economic growth and job creation.
Transition Finance Scotland (TFS), in partnership with the Green Finance Institute (GFI), will mobilise private capital into priority decarbonisation sectors in Scotland.
The partnership has already brought together 40 of Scotland’s most respected organisations across financial services, project developers and the public sector, to help facilitate a massive expansion of investment in net zero initiatives.
By bringing together these stakeholders, this initiative aims to stimulate much-needed investment into an unrivalled pipeline of opportunity across Scotland’s energy and infrastructure sectors, including the built environment, carbon capture & storage and floating offshore wind.
Using the GFI’s proven methodology – and its expertise in structured finance, policy design and project development – TFS will build upon this work and actively focus on unlocking barriers to capital flow and creating innovative financial solutions in the market. A key objective will be to ensure that public sector financing will be best leveraged to encourage private investment to drive growth and unlock additional investment.
In practice, this will require the new initiative to focus its efforts on mapping investible projects, identifying funding gaps and forming sector coalitions to catalyse investment into the transition in Scotland.
TFS also intends to work closely with both the UK and Scottish governments – as well as their investment vehicles such as GB Energy and the Scottish National Investment Bank – to help companies and projects secure investment.
TFS will be formally launched in Edinburgh on June 19 and is chaired by financial services stalwart Graeme Jones, the former Chief Executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise.
The creation of TFS has been driven forward on a pro bono basis by Edinburgh-headquartered management consultancy Alba Partners, together with law firm Pinsent Masons.
Graeme Jones, Chair of TFS, said: “Transition Finance Scotland brings together two of Scotland’s most valuable sectors – energy and finance – to help deliver significant new investment in net zero projects.
“The scale of the challenge is significant, but so is the opportunity – not only to help accelerate the energy transition, but also to create jobs and economic growth across Scotland.
“We are hugely grateful to have the support of the Green Finance Institute as we get underway.”
Green Finance Institute Chief Executive, Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE, said: “The GFI is a now a global business and we are keen to work in geographies where we can make an impact.
“Scotland is uniquely positioned as a key player in the transition, with world class financial services alongside legacy energy infrastructure and renewables.
“We look forward to deploying our expertise and approach, partnering with key Scottish and global investors to unlock private capital at scale.”
