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Ambitious plans to harness private investment for nature recovery in England will stall, unless urgent action is taken, nature market start-up EnTrade claims.
The Nature Markets Framework was published in 2023 by the previous government, promising to channel £500 million annually by 2027 and £1 billion by 2030 into woodland creation, peatland restoration and biodiversity initiatives. But two years on, the lack of essential regulatory frameworks has left these targets frustratingly out of reach.
Guy Thompson, Managing Director of EnTrade welcomes the government’s recent commitment to exploring a Nature Market Accelerator and is calling for decisive action to drive the billions of pounds of private investment poised for deployment and ready to transform England’s natural landscapes.
In Bristol, EnTrade’s local nature credits project has successfully attracted private funds to restore habitats. It serves as proof of concept – but without a national framework to replicate it, such successes remain isolated.
Guy Thompson, said: ‘This is the government’s moment. Eight months into power, it has a golden opportunity to turn the Nature Markets Framework into reality. The blueprint is there, the capital is waiting: now the government must lead with resolve and unlock billions for nature’s revival. Delay is not an option.’
He continued: “ The government is spot on in its own analysis in its recently published Action Plan for Regulatory Reform that there is an urgent need for coherence to accelerate private investment in nature. High integrity nature markets will not establish themselves through voluntary action by the private sector alone and it is clear that philanthropic and public funding alone will not deliver its environmental ambition. The government needs to act now to establish a governance framework to accelerate action.”
Thompson, a seasoned advocate for environmental innovation, and former interim CEO of Natural England, views Labour’s short time in office not as a limitation but as an advantage—a chance to shape its legacy with bold, early action for nature.
Launched on 30 March 2023, the Nature Markets Framework was hailed as a groundbreaking approach to attract private finance to deliver environmental benefits. Its mechanism is simple: investors fund measurable ecological gains through nature credit markets, from rewilded hillsides to flourishing wetlands. However, without regulatory clarity, this vision remains stalled. Cautious investors, unsettled by uncertainty, have hesitated, leaving the framework’s potential largely unrealised.
A notable exception is in the West of England, where two landscape-scale nature credit markets, piloted and operated by an innovative start-up EnTrade, have successfully attracted private funds to restore habitats. The pilot markets serve as proofs of concept—but without a national framework to replicate it, such successes remain isolated.
Fiscal constraints make action even more pressing. The spring budget will see the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) facing a 2% cut to day-to-day spending in 2025-26, while national landscapes teams will confront a rumoured 12% funding reduction. With public resources stretched thin, private investment is no longer optional—it’s essential. For Labour, the solution is evident: set clear rules and the market will follow. To quote the Prime Minister, “now is the time to unleash the private sector”.
The implications reach beyond England. As climate and biodiversity crises escalate, a successful Nature Markets Framework could establish the government as a global leader, demonstrating how private finance can serve the planet. The Bristol Avon Catchment Market project offers a glimpse of this potential, but scaling these nature markets requires immediate steps.
Labour’s honeymoon period may be brief, yet that brevity is its strength: a clean slate to act decisively. Two years have passed since the Nature Markets Framework was introduced—it’s a stark reminder of what’s at stake and what’s achievable. With swift, determined moves, this government can unleash the investment needed to restore England’s green and pleasant land.
