GFI launches nature investment toolkit

The Green Finance Institute has launched an online platform to detail the pathway from investment into nature-based projects to the ultimate end result – nature restoration.

The Investment Readiness Project Toolkit features eight milestones, including sets of considerations and case studies, for project developers and investors to help mobilise private finance into nature-based solutions. This includes initial project scoping, to identifying and engaging with buyers, developing governance structures, to closing contracts.

Eight milestones to investment readiness

See also: – ‘Nature positive’ will be as big as ‘net zero’ – ESG Clarity

Up to £97bn of private sector investment needs to be directed towards nature in the UK over the next decade, the Green Finance Institute said, to help the UK meet its nature-related goals and mitigate the risk of flood risk through natural flood management, carbon sequestration and sustainable soil management. Also, three-quarters of UK FTSE All-Share firms are “highly dependent” on natural capital.

Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas, CEO at the Green Finance Institute, said: “With Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) underway in Montreal, it’s evident there’s no time to lose in channelling more private investment towards nature-based solutions. The Investment Readiness Toolkit for Nature provides a clear framework to support investment into nature restoration in the UK to deliver the environmental benefits we need to see.”

Lord Benyon, minister of state from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), commented: “A thriving natural world where habitats and species are abundant is absolutely essential for our food and economic security, as well as efforts to tackle climate change.

“This government has set a target to stimulate at least £500m of private investment for nature recovery in England each year and I welcome efforts that build the capacity of nature projects to mobilise this much-needed finance, restore landscapes and halt species decline.”