Sustainable funding for Nature-based Solutions in the UK

We carried out a review that showed significant and growing funding to support NbS in the UK. It is not possible to provide a total figure, as many grants and public sources do not reveal the amount available, and private initiatives will depend on the eventual size of any markets as they develop, but total amounts from programmes reviewed are at least in the hundreds of millions of pounds annually.

Despite these growing opportunities, the UK is in a challenging period of transition for nature and land-related funding. Programmes can vary significantly in how individual grants are awarded and/or monitored. There is also a widespread lack of information on the costs involved in deploying nature-based solutions (both initial set-up and ongoing management), making it tricky for decision makers to establish to what extent funding will fully cover activities. Further clarity is also required on how different funding opportunities interact, including how to demonstrate additionality and whether or not multiple environmental benefits from a single project can be ‘stacked’ or ‘bundled’ to recognise the breadth of goods generated.