Fifty projects aimed at driving private investment in nature and tackling climate change are to receive £100,000.
The second round of the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF), announced today by Defra and the Environment Agency, will provide grants of up to £100,000 to local authorities and other organisations to support environmental schemes, including rewetting peatlands and create green urban spaces.
The funding is aimed at helping the development of projects so that they can demonstrate a return on that investment by capturing the value of carbon, water quality, biodiversity and other benefits.
Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the Environment Agency and interim chair of the Green Finance Institute, said: ‘The finance community is increasingly aware that investors want to understand how their savings deliver good outcomes on the ground. What we learn from these projects will help the private sector invest in activities that deliver both environmental improvements and generate returns.
‘By showing what works we can attract a wider pool of investors to fund work on a much larger scale that helps protect people from climate impacts and restores nature. Given the current acceleration of climate risks to the global economy, we need this to happen at pace.’
