Federated Hermes Limited and Finance Earth have been appointed by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to manage the public/private fund which aims to invest in nature protection and restoration efforts. The appointment was announced on Wednesday 2nd November 2022.
Plans for the Big Nature Impact fund were first touted in the Autumn Budget and the 2021 Spending Review following the landmark Dasgupta Review, an independent report on the economics of biodiversity commissioned by the UK government which was carried out by academic Sir Partha Dasgupta.
At the 2021 Spending Review, the government also announced plans to raise at least £500m of private investment into nature’s recovery every year by 2027 and more than £1bn a year by 2030, including £30m public investment in the Big Nature Impact fund.
This is in addition to allocating £140m to assessing the extent and condition of the country’s natural habitats. The government has already launched the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF).
The appointment of Federated Hermes and Finance Earth as fund managers of the Big Nature Impact fund follows a “competitive procurement exercise” and will see the investment firms begin engaging with investors and project developers, according to DEFRA.
DEFRA said it planned to support the fund by providing seed investment as well as overseeing the fund’s mandate and governance through a limited partnership agreement with the fund managers and other investors.
The government said further details on the Big Nature Impact Fund and Defra’s investment would be set out “in due course“.
The full press release can be found at this link to DEFRA’s website.
