Nefco
Encyclopedia
The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) is an international finance institution established in 1990 by the five Nordic countries: Denmark
, Finland
, Iceland
, Norway
and Sweden
. To date, NEFCO has financed a wide range of environmental projects in Central and Eastern European countries, including Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. From its headquarters in Helsinki
, NEFCO's activities are focused on projects that achieve cost-effective environmental benefits across the region.
NEFCO's portfolio currently comprises nearly 300 small and medium-sized projects spread across different sectors, including: chemical, mineral and metals, food and engineering, agriculture, water treatment, power utilities, municipal services, waste management, nuclear remediation, environmental management and environmental equipment manufacturing.
To provide the capital necessary to support projects, NEFCO works with a series of different funding bodies. The most significant of these are the Investment Fund, the Nordic Environmental Development Fund, the Testing Ground Facility carbon fund and the Barents Hot Spots Facility. NEFCO also administers funds on behalf of other parties who are providing resources to environmental projects. These include among others the European Commission and the governments of the Nordic countries.
NEFCO projects are usually run in partnership with the enterprise that 'owns' the project. Emphasis is placed on direct investments from, for example, public-private partnerships and corporate public services. The structure of any project supported by NEFCO needs to create reasonable equilibrium between risk and reward for all interested parties. The aim is to achieve a fair and transparent balance between the structuring of investments and their environmental return. Viewed in the context of associated risk, NEFCO aims to offer competitive terms at all times.
Through its network of partnerships, NEFCO supplements finance from other interested parties and financial institutions. NEFCO also co-operates with bilateral environmental assistance programmes.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. To date, NEFCO has financed a wide range of environmental projects in Central and Eastern European countries, including Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. From its headquarters in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, NEFCO's activities are focused on projects that achieve cost-effective environmental benefits across the region.
NEFCO's portfolio currently comprises nearly 300 small and medium-sized projects spread across different sectors, including: chemical, mineral and metals, food and engineering, agriculture, water treatment, power utilities, municipal services, waste management, nuclear remediation, environmental management and environmental equipment manufacturing.
To provide the capital necessary to support projects, NEFCO works with a series of different funding bodies. The most significant of these are the Investment Fund, the Nordic Environmental Development Fund, the Testing Ground Facility carbon fund and the Barents Hot Spots Facility. NEFCO also administers funds on behalf of other parties who are providing resources to environmental projects. These include among others the European Commission and the governments of the Nordic countries.
NEFCO projects are usually run in partnership with the enterprise that 'owns' the project. Emphasis is placed on direct investments from, for example, public-private partnerships and corporate public services. The structure of any project supported by NEFCO needs to create reasonable equilibrium between risk and reward for all interested parties. The aim is to achieve a fair and transparent balance between the structuring of investments and their environmental return. Viewed in the context of associated risk, NEFCO aims to offer competitive terms at all times.
Through its network of partnerships, NEFCO supplements finance from other interested parties and financial institutions. NEFCO also co-operates with bilateral environmental assistance programmes.