Doing the heavy lifting for nature recovery
The Green Finance Institute's July 2026 report Developing Regional Economic Resilience through Nature-based Solutions: Building Business Demand * is a must-read for anyone working in natural capital.
It neatly summarises some of the very real difficulties in rolling out and scaling up the types of Nature-based Solutions which could make a real difference to society - the sustainable land management practices which could reduce flood risk, improve water quality, capture carbon and enhance biodiversity. These solutions could and should benefit infrastructure operators, water companies and a multitude of businesses across the UK, so why are we not seeing more of them? The report shows that the main issue is not supply but demand, because it is hard:
for buyers to build a business case - especially when cost assessments are designed around engineered solutions
to aggregate demand across different sectors
to find ways through different regulatory regimes, timelines and priorities.
Importantly, though, the report does not just identify the issues, it proposes practical steps to tackle them. These are not quick wins or silver bullets, but heavy-lifting work which will take time and effort. Fortunately the Green Finance Institute has convened some of the brightest and best thinkers in this space to work with, so the prospects are good, especially if both local and national government see the long term benefits and give this the attention it deserves.
At Tellus Natural Capital we are working with several groups of farmers and landowners who could deliver the sort of Nature-based Solutions that the report considers. The planning and design for some of those projects are well advanced, while others are at an early stage, but in all cases, a lack of clear indication of the scale of demand and potential returns are holding them back. We support the work that the Green Finance Institute is doing and stand ready to help. It's down to all of us to put our collective shoulders to the wheel and find ways to make this work.
* If you haven't got time to read the full report, you can find the Executive Summary on the GFI website.
7/8/26