Chief Secretary to HM Treasury John Glen has outlined key aspects of the UK’s sustainable finance ambitions over the course of 2023 and beyond. As part of the much-anticipated Green Finance Strategy, the UK will launch a new policy framework for nature markets, which Glen said “will provide clearer principles and policy guardrails for the development of new nature markets, including new arrangements to accelerate the adoption of robust standards for investing in a broader range of ecosystem services”. The government has also committed £30 million of de-risking capital into the new Big Nature Impact Fund, a blended finance vehicle managed by Federated Hermes and Finance Earth to mobilise “significant levels” of private investment. Other notable commitments include plans to invest £750 million in tree-planting and peatland restoration through the Nature for Climate Fund, as well as launching the Species Survival Fund. Glen also reiterated the UK government’s commitment to upholding pledges made in line with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and continuing to support the development of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). “It’s impossible to know what the consequences of nature and biodiversity loss will be for humans,” said Glen. “But we do expect that life will become harder, that food will become scarcer, and wildlife rarer. And we do know the clock is ticking down to the point of no return.”
