Achieving environmental objectives and restoring nature demands sustained cooperation across government, industry, and the financial sector. To support this, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has opened a call for evidence on how to broaden private sector involvement in nature recovery.
Investors already have avenues to back credible nature restoration initiatives that offer both ecological benefits and financial gains – commonly referred to as natural capital investment – but it is recognised that even more needs to be done to meet environment targets.
What is natural capital?
Natural capital refers to stocks of natural assets – such as soil, air, water, forests, and biodiversity – that provide essential goods and services for human survival and economic activity.
Safeguarding these assets through sustainable management and conservation can also generate economic benefits. This creates scope and justification for business investment.
Examples of current natural capital projects
A way of creating and improving natural habitats. BNG makes sure development has a measurably positive impact on biodiversity. This is relevant for developers, local planning authorities and land managers.
Woodland carbon units from verified projects can help companies compensate for unavoidable emissions.
Landowners who comply with the Woodland Carbon Code can generate and sell woodland carbon units based on the carbon captured by their woodlands.
By investing in Peatland Code projects, through the purchase of validated and verified carbon units, businesses can take meaningful action on their carbon emissions while helping to preserve and restore this natural environment.
Broadening private sector involvement
The call for evidence seeks input from farmers, land managers, businesses, and investors on how to further incentivise private sector investment in nature recovery.
Respondents are invited to share their perspectives on how to scale up investment across the following six areas:
- Clean and plentiful water;
- Nature-based carbon reductions;
- Public access to nature;
- Flood management;
- Sustainable land use and food production; and
- International nature recovery.
The call for evidence closes on 7 August 2025. Full details can be found here.
