Finance for Sustainable Growth - Lessons Learnt

Delivering net zero by 2050 is an essential pre-condition of sustainable economic growth. A successful and timely transition to net zero requires supporting sustainable business and increasing the availability of private capital for the development and commercialisation of green solutions, in all regions of the UK.

This means helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into products, and supporting start-ups as they scale and expand. To do so, in July 2021, the City of London Corporation launched Finance for Sustainable Growth (F4SG). F4SG aimed to nurture a more supportive environment for greentech companies and those producing sustainable solutions seeking scale-up finance to expand throughout the UK. The broader objective was to ensure that the entire UK benefits from London-based expertise and sources of capital as it works towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. F4SG initially focused on the North East of England, a region recognised as holding significant potential for investors interested in greentech.

This report provides an overview of the F4SG North East pilot, analyses its impact, and shares the lessons learnt from its delivery. Further facilitating the integration of the North East sustainable business ecosystem with investors and promoting the growth of regional greentech clusters is a task that will require a long term strategy implementation, and the mobilisation of dedicated resources. To aid this, the report highlights some key areas of focus.

The City Corporation will apply the learnings from the F4SG pilot and continue to enhance connectivity between London and UK regions through its ongoing programme of regional engagement.