The North is punching above its weight in attracting foreign investment in clean technology projects after securing almost a third of overseas-backed projects, a new study suggests.
The North attracted 17 Foreign Direct Investment backed clean technology projects in 2020, according to new analysis by accountancy group EY, amounting to 29% of the schemes receiving backing last year.
Nine of those schemes were in Yorkshire and Humber, with four each in the North East and North West.
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Nationally, the UK was second only to Germany in securing FDI investment for clean technology schemes.
Alison Kay, EY UK&I managing partner for Client Service, says: “The UK is in an encouraging place on green investment, with cleantech project numbers keeping pace with the UK’s overall FDI performance.
“The UK is also performing better on cleantech than perceptions might imply – our regular UK Attractiveness Survey has shown that while investor support for UK cleantech has grown significantly in recent years, Europe is still more likely to be perceived as a leader in this area.
“With scope to improve investor perceptions, the UK has a solid foundation from which to accelerate its cleantech performance. The Government has the opportunity to set out how it will do this with its forthcoming Net Zero Strategy.
“UK cleantech acceleration is vital. This is a priority area for investors and the UK may struggle to meet its climate commitments without coordinated cleantech investment. Crucially, our research also suggests cleantech investment can help level-up the UK economy.”
Cleantech projects were defined as those which involved investment in energy transition, biodiversity, sustainability or the pursuit of net zero targets – such as investments in wind turbine manufacture, electric vehicle charging point roll-outs or the expansion of green-focused companies.
The research has been published ahead of the Government’s Global Investment Summit, taking place in London today.
Manufacturing is the largest generator of cleantech activity in Europe, representing 36% of the total market, followed by sales and marketing, and research and development.
