Fund to drive private sector investment in nature opens for second round

Fund to drive private sector investment in nature opens for second round - Natural England

wildflowers (MiVargof / Pixabay) — MiVargof / Pixabay

Applications open for second round of the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund

Organisations seeking investment for nature projects to tackle climate change, create and restore habitats, or improve water quality are being urged to apply for the second and final round of the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund.

The fund of up to £10 million will provide grants of up to £100,000 to environmental groups, local authorities, businesses and other organisations to help them develop nature projects in England to a point where they can attract private investment.

Funding will be invested in a broad range of projects that will deliver environmental benefits while also demonstrating a wide range of innovative approaches to generating revenues from the wide range of benefits that nature provides.

Projects will be designed to provide a return on investment by capturing the value of the carbon, water quality, biodiversity and other benefits provided by natural assets such as woodlands, peatlands, catchments and landscapes.

This will create a pipeline of projects for the private sector to invest in, demonstrating the UK’s leadership and action in scaling up finance for nature and climate during COP26. The opening of the application window comes after the Chancellor set out the UK’s plans to become the world’s first net zero aligned financial centre, welcoming commitments from private companies covering $130 trillion of financial assets that will create a huge pool of cash that could fund our net zero transition.

Environment Minister Lord Benyon said: “As nations come together at COP26 to make important commitments to protect and enhance our natural environment, it is vital that we drive greater levels of private sector investment, alongside continued public sector funding, if we are to successfully tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. The fund has already provided support to 29 projects working to create new woodlands and wetlands and restore peatlands, with the second round of funding providing more opportunities for organisations to get support to attract private sector investment in their projects.”