Mobilising Finance for Nature

Green Finance Institute / GFI Hive

About Us

In line with the broader Green Finance Institute’s vision of a greener future made possible by finance, the Nature Team (GFI Hive) is committed to supporting the transition of the global economy to one that values and invests in the natural environment.

Our mission is to increase the role of the private sector in paying for and investing in nature restoration, nature-based solutions and nature-positive outcomes, ensuring that communities are engaged and rewarded within this new paradigm.

Like our colleagues across GFI, we are wholly outcomes-focused, and work across the UK with the finance sector, government, academia, environmental NGOs and land managers to identify and unlock barriers to this mission, and increasingly work internationally to apply and gather learnings.

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Latest Insights

Assessing the Materiality of Nature-Related Financial Risks for the UK
Apr 25 2024
Nature degradation could cause a 12% loss to UK GDP. A first-of-its-kind analysis quantifies the impact that nature degradation, both domestically and internationally, could have on the UK’s economy and financial sector. The work was led by the Green Finance Institute (GFI), with a technical team involving the UK’s top researchers: the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford, the University of Reading, the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).
New expert-led report sets out key recommendations to scale private sector finance into natural flood management
Mar 20 2024
Cross-sector, expert-led natural flood management group commissioned by Defra sets out practical recommendations and a standardised approach to enable the flow of private sector capital into natural flood management projects. A multi-sector, expert-led Natural Flood Management Strategic Working Group, convened by the Green Finance Institute and commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has today published its final recommendations for the financing of natural flood management (NFM) projects in the UK.
UK Nature-Related Risk Analysis Update
Feb 28 2024
In early 2023, the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), University of Oxford, University of Reading and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), in a […]
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Explore the GFI Hive Toolkits

Investment Readiness Toolkit

 

The Investment Readiness Toolkit is an online and interactive framework that takes nature-based project developers and enterprises along the eight milestones of a path to ‘Investment Readiness’, providing key considerations and case studies.

This Toolkit was commissioned by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and is intended for any project developer or enterprise interested in restoring or creating natural habitats in the UK with the use of private finance – including farmers, estate owners, charities, local authorities, project developers or aggregators.

 

Farming Toolkit for Assessing Nature Market Opportunities

 

The Farming Toolkit has been commissioned by Defra as a free resource to support England’s farming community in understanding and navigating emerging nature market opportunities. It is a version of the Investment Readiness Toolkit bespoke to farmers.

The Toolkit is divided into two sections – the Introduction to Nature Markets gives an overview of nature markets as a concept and answers commons questions. The Snake provides a step-by-step guide for how nature market projects are developed in practice by farmers.

 

Latest Case Studies

Oxygen Conservation

 

Oxygen Conservation is a UK-based company that invests in land to protect and restore natural capital. In 2023, Oxygen Conservation acquired two estates in Scotland; Blackburn and Hartsgarth, and Invergeldie, which cover 23,000 acres. These acquisitions were completed through the use of a £20.55m loan facility from Triodos Bank UK – which as of September 2023 is believed to be the largest conservation-focused commercial package in the UK. Income is based on the sale of  carbon credits generated through the Peatland and Woodland Carbon Codes.

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Responsible Commodities Facility

 

The Responsible Commodities Facility provides financial incentives to produce soy in existing cleared and degraded lands in order to discourage further expansion of agricultural land in the Brazilian Cerrado. An $11m pilot fund has been launched with four-year green bonds bought by Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose, and the proceeds are used for low-interest loans to nine large farming groups

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Latest Podcasts

 

GFI Hive’s Financing Nature podcast will return in April 2024 with a brand new series in the lead up to COP16.  Until then please enjoy our UK Farming Toolkit Special Series of podcasts. 

 

 

Farming Toolkit Special Series: Archie Ruggles-Brise, Spains Hall Estate
Join us for this special episode of our mini-series, Farming Nature, as Archie Ruggles-Brise shares his experience and advice on preparing for Biodiversity Net Gain. We also hear about interventions across his Essex farm such as the introduction of beavers for flood management. This episode is designed to support farmers working through Milestone 5 of our Farming Toolkit.
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Farming Toolkit Special Series: Timothy Coates, co-founder Oxbury Bank and third generation farmer
From January 2024 to the end of March 2024, GFI's Financing Nature podcast is becoming Farming Nature - a series of audio interviews designed to support England's farmers in understanding nature markets as part of the new Farming Toolkit on GFI Hive. In this episode, Timothy Coates, co-founder of Oxbury Bank and third generation farmer shares why he is adapting his farm ready to sell units and credits, his views on 'no regrets' decisions and work with the Northeast Cotswolds Farmer Cluster. Financing Nature will be making its return in April 2024 in the lead up to COP16.
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Useful Resources

The Future for Nature in Transition Planning

Date published: April 2024
This paper draws on the expertise of the Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) Nature Working Group to make recommendations on the future of nature in transition planning beyond the current TPT Disclosure Framework and associated guidance. It considers how the TPT’s approach to climate transition planning could be applied to nature objectives, and what can be done to create the enabling environment needed for business to implement this approach within transition plans. 
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Global Survey of Nature Risk Management at Financial Firms

Date published: April 2024
GARP has undertaken its first global survey of nature risk management across the financial system, with the intention of examining both the risks and opportunities within a financial firm’s portfolios (rather than its direct operations). There were 48 firms in this year’s Survey, comprising 37 banks, seven asset managers, and four insurers. Among other things, the survey shows that: 31% of the firms report that their regulators have published formal expectations for nature risk management, and another 13% expect their regulators to do so. Nearly half of the boards in the sample have oversight of nature-related risks and opportunities. Just 17% of firms are using metrics, targets, or limits to assess drivers of nature-related risks.
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CPIC Conservation Investment Blueprints - Agriculture and Forestry Projects

Date published: April 2024
CPIC has published four additional blueprints to add to its existing repository, including: Belterra's use of blended finance in managing agroforestry systems in Brazil; the RSPB's use of a commercial debt facility to refinance the acquisition of its habitat bank site for S106 payments in England; Heal Rewilding's leveraging a blend of concessional and commercial debt alongside public and private donations, for nature recovery projects in England; and Koa's use of a low-interest loan from the Landscape Resilience Fund and IDH Farmfit Fund to scale its use of agricultural by-products.in Ghana.
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Biodiversity Disclosure Initiatives

Date published: April 2024
This Thematic Report from Arcadis, ICF and the European Business and Biodiversity Platform specifically focuses on biodiversity disclosure initiatives - both regulatory and voluntary- to highlight the major differences and similarities. The report covers 6 biodiversity disclosure initiatives: the European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS) E4 on biodiversity and ecosystems (part of CSRD); the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR); French Energy and Climate Law, Article 29; Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations and guidance; Biodiversity Standard of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI); Biodiversity disclosure requirements by CDP. 
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