The National Wealth Fund, with its proposed £7.3 billion of public capital, presents an opportunity to design a first-of-kind public-private partnership, that deploys catalytic capital to crowd private investment into priority Net Zero sectors.

The GFI is providing advice to the Labour Party on how to structure and implement its commitment to create a National Wealth Fund. Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE, CEO of the GFI, is the chair of an independent taskforce that includes the CEOs of some of the UK’s leading financial institutions.

This interim report sets out design principles for the NWF and five key foundational recommendations to ensure the NWF can be genuinely additive, driving a step-change in green investment:

• Foundational recommendation: Public capital investment alone will be insufficient to  realise the transition to a low carbon economy. A stable, long-term, and competitive policy environment will be paramount for the realisation of the NWF’s target objective of mobilising private capital (at a rate of 3:1 as set out by Labour). Public capital investment, when directly supported by policy, can take on risk that private capital alone cannot, offering potential returns for the fund, and a clear path to mobilise large scale private capital. Developing strategic alignment between the NWF and Net Zero policy will therefore be key.
• Design principles: The NWF must deliver for investors, government and for industry to succeed. In practice, this means operational independence from government, but strategic alignment with government via a clear mandate and complementary economic policy. It must be additive, flexible and have speed-to-market.