NEFCO — Nordic Environment Finance Corporation

Funds Nordic environmental upgrades through shared green financing and cooperative climate-oriented investment in the member states.

NEFCO, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, is the Nordic Green Bank and a supranational finance institution owned by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Helsinki, it finances environmental and climate projects across the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2025 it had 324 active investments and disbursed EUR 77.9 million.

Loan finance is NEFCO's main instrument, but it also uses equity, blended finance, donor-funded programmes, and results-based financing. Nopef supports Nordic SMEs with conditional feasibility support of up to EUR 50,000 for projects outside the EU and EFTA area, while MCFA typically tickets between EUR 500,000 and EUR 2.5 million for clean cooking providers in Africa. BGFA, E5P, and the Baltic Sea Action Plan Fund extend the same model into off-grid energy, municipal environmental work, and marine recovery.

NEFCO is strongest where environmental impact can be matched with a bankable project structure. It works with Nordic companies, municipalities, and private energy providers rather than broad open competition, and it shifts between commercial and concessional terms depending on the geography and the programme. That mix makes it less like a classic grantmaker and more like a specialist lender with targeted grant windows attached.