We are pleased to share a new report: Emerging funding opportunities for the natural environment, which we commissioned to review the current landscape for innovative funding of environmental enhancement across the UK.
The report was put together by Environmental Finance and Ecosystems Knowledge Network, with funding and support from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
Why we commissioned this report?
At Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, we are committed to protecting and restoring our natural world and, in the UK, we know that our natural environment is facing increasing pressures from growing demand, land management practices, and climate change.
For our natural environment to be restored, a significant increase in funding is needed. Current funding sources, which draw upon a pool of mostly public and philanthropic money, are unable to meet the demand to prevent further decline. As critical as public and philanthropic funding is, if the current crisis is to be successfully reversed, more money will be crucial.
Who is it for?
We hope this report will be helpful to those who are developing new approaches to funding conservation and environmental restoration: NGOs, public sector bodies, philanthropic funders and impact investors. At Esmée we will be using the report to provide insight and evidence for the potential of this emerging area of funding. In commissioning the report, we wanted to understand the barriers to developing these funding approaches, as well as the challenges that organisations are finding in implementing them.
What next?
We think that there’s a role for funders in supporting organisations with the technical expertise they need to take advantage of new funding opportunities, as well as in making sure that they are fit for purpose – putting environmental outcomes front and centre. We’d be interested to hear what you think.
We’ll be sharing the report on twitter using the hashtag #EnvironmentForFunding.
