Sustainable Investment Principles

Welsh Government have published their draft Sustainable Investment Principles for open consultation. The principles seek to develop a new approach to sustainable finance for nature’s recovery, and aim to ensure high-integrity finance that is supportive of local communities. Consultation is open until 3rd December 2024.

Ecosystems Knowledge Network Nature Finance Learning Hub

Our Nature Finance Learning Hub is a collection of information and resources provided to help you discover the topic of financial innovation for environmental restoration. This includes news and projects from across the UK, as well as e-learning courses, webinar recordings and other initiatives operating in each UK jurisdiction.

Financing UK Nature Recovery

Financing UK Nature Recovery is a coalition led by the Broadway Initiative, the Green Finance Institute and Finance Earth. The group works to create investible markets and projects for mainstream financial providers, mobilising capital towards nature-based solutions across the UK. Since its launch in 2020, it has facilitated extensive dialogue on nature-based finance throughout the UK.

BSI Nature Investment Standards Hub

The BSI has partnered with Defra to establish a standards framework to address barriers to investing in nature, which includes the release of BSI Flex 701 Nature Markets – Overarching Principles and Frameworks. Key resources are also available through the Hub including a Nature Investment Standards Hub and ‘A high-integrity standards framework for UK Nature Markets’ report.

Crown Estate & Blue Marine Foundation Marine Natural Capital Markets

In May 2024, The Crown Estate published their ‘High-Integrity Marine Natural Capital Markets in the UK’ report in partnership with Blue Marine Foundation, Crown Estate Scotland, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Finance Earth and Pollination. This Roadmap examines unlocking vital investment in the protection and restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems, building on existing actions across the UK.

NatureScot Guidance on Nature Finance Opportunities for Land Managers in Scotland

NatureScot provide this guidance to support land managers in Scotland to consider opportunities of private finance in supporting the stewardship of land, water and nature. The guidance includes five starting points as introductions to nature finance for land managers, followed by tailored explanations and case studies, such as The Wyre Natural Flood Management Project and The Shieling Project.

Pumlumon Project

The Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust’s Pumlumon Project has set out to revive the ecology and economy of the Welsh uplands, by helping local farming and tourism businesses to enhance ecosystem services such as carbon storage and flood storage.

Ecosystem Enterprise Partnership (EEP) Ecobank

The EEP Ecobank brings together land managers, industry, conservation managers and communities to encourage the growth of Pembrokeshire’s economy while improving the environment of the Milford Haven and Cleddau catchment.

Black Mountains Land Use Partnership

The Black Mountains Land Use Partnership is a collaborative venture among local landowners, graziers and relevant regulatory bodies. It promotes the restoration and sustainable management of the natural resources of the Black Mountains, an 24,600 ha. area of upland and lowland habitat. The collaboration comprises major landowners, Natural Resources Wales, Natural England, Young Farmers Club, and Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.

Stump Up for Trees

Stump Up For Trees is a community-based charity focused on woodland creation and enhancing biodiversity in the Brecon Beacons area of south-east Wales. Through public-private funding initiatives, the charity works with upland farmers and other landowners to include more trees on their farmland and designate a proportion of their least agriculturally productive land for tree planting, to enhance biodiversity and support natural flood management.

Woodland Carbon Code

The Woodland Carbon Code is a quality assurance standard for woodland creation projects in the UK, used to generate high-integrity and independently verified carbon units in the UK. The internationally recognised standard for sustainable forest and carbon management also provides social and environmental benefits for many communities across the UK. It is managed by Scottish Forestry on behalf of Forestry Commission, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Forest Service.

Forest Carbon, Bryn Arw

Bryn Arw, common land managed by the Bryn Arw Commoners Association, partnered with Stump Up for Trees and Coed Cadw to reintroduce native broadleaf woodland using a species mix to reflect remnant ancient semi-natural woods in the area. The project has established a 100-year lifetime and has so far planted 131,000 trees. With the support of Forest Carbon, the scheme was validated by the Woodland Carbon Code in 2022.

Câr-Y-Môr, Wales

Câr-Y-Môr is a Community Benefit Society-owned regenerative ocean farm in Wales. Over the past two years, the organisation has had two pilot farms around St Davids peninsula, trialling native seaweed and shellfish species. Câr-Y-Môr now operate a larger farm to rise to a commercial scale.