The United Nations Investment Promotion Awards 2023 for Excellence in Promoting Sustainable Investment Promoting Investment in the Energy Transition were presented on 16 October 2023 in Abu Dhabi during the World Investment Forum’s Gala Dinner at the Hotel Emirates Palace.
The awards went to ten winners. They were selected through a committee representing the academia, civil society, the business community, and the United Nations through HEC Montreal Business School, the Colombia Centre on Sustainable Investment, the International Chamber of Commerce, and UNCTAD.
The 3 equal winners with a special distinction from the jury “Judges top 3 selection”, in alphabetical order:
Invest Minas (Brazil) receives the award for excellence in its active promotion and facilitation of green investments, particularly in solar power, and for its efforts striving for carbon neutrality by 2050. The state government created the Sol de Minas campaign to attract large-scale clean energy generation projects. Between 2021 and June 2023, some 37 new solar or hybrid (solar & wind) energy projects were installed in Minas Gerais, with investments totalling US$ 8.4 billion and estimates creation of 8000 jobs. One such company is Shell, with two projects under installation worth nearly 800 million US$. In June 2023 Minas Gerais also became the first state in Brazil to achieve 6 (six) Gigawatts of installed solar energy capacity.
Guidance Tamil Nadu (India) receives the award for excellence in supporting low-cost access to solar panels and the development of sustainable cities in India, also improving energy efficiency such as the First Solar’s eco-efficient module technology (CdTe thin film), which has the lowest carbon and water footprint of any PhotoVoltaic (PV) module manufactured to date. Unique features of the production facility: PV module designed for high value recycling (up to 90%); Utilises recycled/treated water for process and chilling needs and zero liquid discharge facility to ensure optimal water usage; Full traceability of the supply chain for the module development. Employment generation of around 1100 jobs with approximately 50% them being female employees.
Invest KOREA (Korea) receives the award for excellence in facilitating the development of a green hydrogen hub. Invest KOREA has successfully facilitated agreements between Ulsan City and Linde from Germany for an investment of USD 250 million [2021 to 2023] and Air Liquide from France for an investment of USD 5 billion from 2022 to 2030 to establish hydrogen production plants. Invest KOREA has also attracted strategic investments from global wind companies, including CIP with a USD 350 million investment announcement in 2023 and a consortium of five companies, including Shell and Equinor with a total investment announcement of USD 160 million, for offshore wind farms.
Seven other equal winners (in alphabetical order)
Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee (China): receives the award for excellence in pursuing a strategic response to climate change and green development. Earlier this year, 2023, Bosch Group, announced a 1 million US$ investment in Suzhou Industrial Park to set up a R&D and manufacturing plant of core components for new energy vehicles and autonomous driving. Suzhou Industrial Park has been committed to the development of green and low-carbon industries becoming a National Circular Economic Pilot Park and the Pilot of Low Carbon Industrial Park. From their side, Bosch has been adhering to the sustainable concept of “green development”, becoming the first industrial company in the world to achieve carbon neutrality in its production and operation.
General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, GAFI (Egypt): receives the award for excellence in promoting and facilitating investment in the production of green hydrogen. The first phase of “Egypt Green Hydrogen” project was inaugurated in November 2022, during COP27, and is producing green hydrogen from a pilot plant with 15MW electrolyser capacity converting some of the grey ammonia production of the Egyptian Fertilizers Company SAE into green. The total investment cost of the project is approximately USD 500 million. The Norwegian energy and infrastructure developer Scatec started implementing in the fourth quarter of 2021, along with its partners Orascom Construction, Fertiglobe.
ONLYLYON INVEST (France): receives the award for excellence in supporting projects developing, producing, and selling sustainable materials with an ultra-low carbon dioxide footprint, contributing to Net Zero objectives such as FORVIA through its subsidiary MATERI’ACT. Creating materials with up to an 85% carbon dioxide reduction, MATERI'ACT will play a crucial role in decarbonizing the automotive industry and beyond. ONLYLYON contributed to convince FORVIA to choose Lyon among all the sites considered worldwide by involving the local materials ecosystem at a very early stage: competitiveness clusters, start-ups, university research centres, etc.
Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (Namibia): receives the award for excellence in supporting an innovative start-up focused on growing and managing large-scale giant kelp forests, off the Namibian coast. Kelp production promotes ocean health, carbon sequestration, and sustainable agriculture. It creates jobs, enhance biodiversity, diversifies the economy and mitigates climate change thanks to its carbon sequestration properties on top of textile, food and pharmaceutical use. In 2022, De Beers Group announced it is investing US$2 million in the Kelp Blue project to have access to potential carbon credits generated by Kelp Blue to complement the company’s core carbon reduction and removal strategies aiming at being carbon-neutral across its operations by 2030.
InvestSA (South Africa): receives the award for excellence in promoting and facilitating investment to build the 600 million US$ ACWA Redstone Solar Thermal Power Plant, which represents the country's largest renewable energy investment. The Project entails 100 MW Tower Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) in the province of Northern Cape in South Africa and includes 12 hours of thermal storage system which will allow project to deliver clean, dispatchable and reliable electricity even when the sun is not shining. The project in its operating period will displace an estimated 500,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year and be capable of providing electricity to nearly 200,000 households round the clock.
Investment Office of the Presidency (Türkiye): receives the award for excellence in targeting sustainable foreign direct investment projects through a comprehensive Sustainable Development Goal Scoring Mechanism. The FDI projects in their portfolio are categorized into four groups based on their scores: Diamond, gold, silver, and bronze where diamond category defines the most impactful projects. The diamond project object of this award is EnerjiSA Üretim, a wind farm worth $1.2 billion that will create 1,000 direct jobs and over 3,000 indirect ones. With a 1,000 MW capacity, EnerjiSA has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 2.3 million tons per year, provides affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy, cleaner technologies and reduces air pollution associated with fossil fuel combustion.
KEZAD Group (United Arab Emirates): receives the award for excellence in promoting and facilitating investment projects that focus on recycling, reusing wastewater, and sourcing locally in addition to promote decarbonization through mangrove management plans. Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD), signed a 50-year land lease agreement with Star Paper Mill, to produce recycled Kraft Paper jumbo reels, contributing to the production of eco-friendly and biodegradable corrugated cartons. This project requires an investment of USD 54.46 million for an installed capacity of 135,000 tonnes, manufacturing recycled semi kraft liner, white top liner, test liner, fluting, and bag paper. The project will create 200 jobs in the economy and aims to achieve a gender representation of 30-40% female employees.
