Winning the 2026 Sustainable Investment Initiative of the Year - finance that has to earn it

Our corporate financing is deliberately designed so that it needs earn its terms every year - against the emissions our projects avoid, and against the communities we power.

Environmental Finance has just named that structure the 2026 Sustainable Investment Initiative of the Year for corporates.

Launched in 2023 and renewed and expanded in both 2024 and 2025, the sustainability-linked financing structure now stands at €770 million. The terms move on two measures: the greenhouse gas emissions our projects avoid each year, and the number of community centres we support with clean energy. Fall short on either, and the financing gets less favourable. That's the point.

This year's case studies included a first-of-its-kind initiative with Microsoft and ECODES in Spain, pairing renewable energy procurement with a dedicated Community Benefit Fund, alongside power purchase agreements with EDP, Avery Dennison and Tesla.

"The award recognises Zelestra's commitment to embedding sustainability into our financing and business strategy," Scarlett says. "It reinforces our belief that corporate finance can accelerate decarbonisation while delivering measurable social impact for the communities around our projects."

The judges agreed. One called it "a great example of an institutionalised SLL," noting it's "good to see renewed commitment to an existing structure." Another pointed to its capacity to deliver "material, measurable real-economy impact at scale."

The structure keeps growing. So does the bar it has to clear.

Read more here: https://www.environmental-finance.com/content/awards/sustainable-investment-awards-2026/winners/sustainable-investment-initiative-of-the-year-(for-corporates)-zelestra.html