Strategic Biodiversity Framework Delivery Plan 2024–2030

Objective 5: Invest in Nature

The main sources of finance for nature restoration and biodiversity in Scotland are public grant funding programmes, the Nature Restoration Fund, PeatlandACTION and woodland grants, philanthropic investment and private finance. Private finance comes from the sale of credits through the Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code, compliance with planning regulations and environmental social governance commitments from businesses and industries for example energy companies as they carry out works to decarbonise our energy infrastructure.

The SBS provides a framework to mobilise private, public, NGO and philanthropic investment in a strategic and coordinated way to deliver the commitments set out in our Delivery Plan. This offers opportunities in rural and urban areas for social revival and economic growth.

Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) includes a commitment to establish a values-led, high-integrity market for responsible private investment in natural capital. This means that we want to grow private investment in Scotland’s nature where it is responsible, benefits communities and has environmental and financial integrity. The foundations of this market already exist in the form of the trade in carbon credits secured through the Woodland Carbon Code and the Peatland Code.

The Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital and Natural Capital Market Framework set out the Scottish Government’s ambitions for, and expectations of, responsible private investment. These will deliver for economic transformation, climate change and biodiversity, provide community benefits, and support a Just Transition.

The Scottish Government, NatureScot and the National Heritage Lottery Fund launched the ‘Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland’ (FIRNS) fund in 2022. FIRNS is supporting projects that shape and grow private investment and market-based mechanisms to finance the restoration of Scotland’s nature on land and in our waterways and seas. Grants of up to £240,000 are offered to help develop a viable business case and financial model, to attract investment in suitable projects.

The Flow Country Green Finance Initiative is a locally led partnership seeking to raise public and private funds to restore peatlands at scale. It aims to achieve a multi-use landscape where healthy and restored peatlands support globally significant biodiversity and climate protection, and a lively and prosperous region with high-quality jobs. In recognition of its unique landscape, habitats and cultural significance, the Flow Country was awarded UNESCO world heritage status in July 2024.

The Scottish Government is making considerable large-scale public investments in nature with the ambitious Nature Restoration Fund and PeatlandACTION, and in implementation of nature-based solutions. Future support for agriculture and the rural economy will increasingly be designed to deliver nature recovery, and to mitigate and adapt Scotland to climate change.

Priority Actions

The most significant actions to realise Objective 5 are set out below.^[5] More detail on supporting actions is set out in Annex 1 We will:

• Promote our natural capital market framework to foster responsible, values-led private investment in nature while delivering benefits to local communities. It will do this by providing guidance to investors, land managers, and other stakeholders, offering tools and resources to develop sustainable projects.
• Publish a Biodiversity Investment Plan for Scotland by the end of 2024 that contains actions to: support a range of finance mechanisms; promote value for money; and develop biodiversity markets in Scotland.
• Public funding streams that contribute to nature restoration will be designed in a way that they can be matched or blended with private finance or investment.
• Build on the experience of CivTech Challenge 8.6 with Credit Nature to explore development of new voluntary codes for nature restoration.
• Explore options for attracting private finance to support the restoration of Scotland’s iconic Rainforest.
• Increase investment in Scotland’s coastal and marine environments. We will seek to increase investment in Scotland’s Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) and investment in activities that help restore Scotland’s coast and seas.
• Provide direction on, and investment in, green skills and local economic opportunities supporting nature-based education, nature restoration skills and volunteering. Financial investment alone will not deliver the transformational change needed to halt biodiversity loss. We will invest in Scotland’s workforce, support the development of nature restoration skills as part of a Just Transition.