The Government has announced that organisations seeking investment for nature projects to tackle climate change, create and restore habitats, or improve water quality are being urged to apply for the second and final round of the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund. The fund will provide grants of up to £100,000 to environmental groups, local authorities, businesses and other organisations to help them develop nature projects in England to a point where they can attract private investment.
Environment Minister Lord Benyon said:
“As nations come together at COP26 to make important commitments to protect and enhance our natural environment, it is vital that we drive greater levels of private sector investment, alongside continued public sector funding, if we are to successfully tackle the climate and biodiversity crises.
“The fund has already provided support to 29 projects working to create new woodlands and wetlands and restore peatlands, with the second round of funding providing more opportunities for organisations to get support to attract private sector investment in their projects.”
Full details are provided in the Press release - Round 2
NEIRF uses the money previously given (by EU) directly to farmers for local greening measures. NEIRF "supports the government’s goals in the 25 year environment plan, green finance strategy and 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution. It aims to stimulate private investment and market based mechanisms that improve and safeguard our domestic natural environment by helping projects get ready for investment." The grant is already closed.
The NEIRF is a competitive grants scheme providing grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 to support the development of environmental projects in England that:
help achieve one or more natural environmental outcomes from the 25 year environment plan
have the ability to produce revenue from ecosystem services to attract and repay investment
produce an investment model that can be scaled up and reproduced
Examples of ecosystem services that could produce revenue include:
selling carbon credits from woodland creation or peatland restoration, using the Woodland Carbon Code or Peatland Code
selling biodiversity units from a habitat bank, using the Natural England biodiversity offsetting metric
selling ‘catchment services’ (such as improved water quality and natural flood management benefits) resulting from natural environment improvements
The grants are to help you to:
get support from professional advisors to develop your project, address barriers to investment and present an attractive case for potential investors
build capability to attract financial investment into natural environment projects
develop a market for ecosystem services (such as investment or trading platforms, codes for verifying benefits, aggregator vehicles)
We will expect you to make the products and knowledge gained through the fund openly available for the benefit of others. This is to help the development of:
the natural capital investment sector
policy and regulation, including alignment with future government funding schemes
You can apply for an NEIRF grant between 10 February 2021 and 26 March 2021...expected to open again autumn 2021
The Environment Agency administers the scheme on behalf of the Department for Environment & Rural Affairs (Defra) group.
"The funding will help applicants access specialist advice, engage investors and develop projects, working in conjunction with existing schemes like the Woodland Carbon Code, Peatland Code and biodiversity offsetting. "
The NEIRF is a competitive grants scheme providing grants to support the development of environmental projects in England that:
help achieve one or more natural environmental outcomes from the 25 year environment plan,
have the ability to produce revenue from ecosystem services to attract and repay investment.
produce an investment model that can be scaled up and reproduced.
£10 million was allocated, submissions for grants are double that.
Projects to demonstrate NEIRF "New investment approach announced to involve private sector in environmental projects, helping to tackle climate change and restore nature."
How to Apply (now closed) "The natural environment investment readiness fund (NEIRF) supports the government’s goals in the 25 year environment plan, green finance strategy and 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution. It aims to stimulate private investment and market based mechanisms that improve and safeguard our domestic natural environment by helping projects get ready for investment.
Ecosystem services that could produce revenue include:
* selling carbon credits from woodland creation or peatland restoration, using the Woodland Carbon Code or Peatland Code
selling biodiversity units from a habitat bank, using the Natural England biodiversity offsetting metric
selling ‘catchment services’ (such as improved water quality and natural flood management benefits) resulting from natural environment improvements