Our investments
Our investments ensure that we can keep working to improve our natural world, secure a fairer future and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK for decades to come.
Money from our investments finance all our charitable work - our grants and social investments as well as our own actions and support.
Our investment policy is intended to provide long-term stability and liquidity to finance our work while maintaining the real value of the endowment, which was £1.381 billion at the end of 2025.
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Sustainable investing: our approach
We use a range of sustainable investment approaches with different financial and impact goals to support our work.
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Our endowment: How we invest
We aim to align our investments with our charitable objectives, whilst maintaining a consistent real value for the endowment over the longer term.
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Impact Investing
Insights and learning from our impact investing, which we hope is helpful to others looking to be more impact-driven through their investment strategy.
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Our commitment and strategy to be net zero
We have made a commitment that our investment portfolio will be net zero in terms of carbon emissions by 2040 at the latest.
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Climate Change
Read about our commitment to addressing the causes and impacts of climate change.
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United Nations' Principles of Responsible Investment
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a signatory to the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment.
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You might be interested in
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05 October 2026Is resilience the new greenwash?
Esmée’s Director of Our Natural World, Liam McAleese, reflects on growing concerns about climate-related risks in food and farming and what genuine resilience means. He also shares how we’re thinking about this in our work on nature-friendly farming, as well our role as an investor.
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Social and affordable housing: Investment deep dive
An investment deep dive on social and affordable housing in the UK, giving an overview of the challenges facing the sector as well as both the impact and the investment opportunity for asset allocators. It also offers guidance on community-centred approaches.
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Big Nature Impact Fund: Investing in nature’s recovery
Led by Finance Earth, the Big Nature Impact Fund is the UK’s first blended nature-as-infrastructure fund. As they announce the first close, reaching a £64.6m, Sarah Hedley, Social Investment Manager at Esmée, reflects on why high-integrity funds like this are important and how it sits within Esmée’s work to improve Our Natural World.
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Webinar: Business action on nature in the UK and guide to nature finance
We're pleased to share a new report by Will McDonald for Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, which explores how business in the UK is taking action on nature and the drivers behind it. You can also find a practical guide to the different types of nature finance and watch our webinar where we explore the findings.
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