Business

£5bn of additional investment needed in Northern Ireland over next decade to meet nature-related targets - report

UP to £5 billion of additional investment is needed in Northern Ireland over the next decade to meet nature-related targets, according to a new report.

The Finance Gap for UK Nature report outlines the gap between required spending and committed spending associated with the delivery of nature-related outcomes in the north and other regions of the UK.

Commissioned by the Green Finance Institute (GFI), it found the investment gap to secure key nature-related outcomes in Northern Ireland - such as biodiversity protection and restoration - to be between £3bn and £5bn over the next 10 years.

The GFI said the analysis highlights the need for private investment in addition to public sector funding to meet net zero and nature-positive ambitions.

The largest gaps specific to outcomes in the north lie within improved access and engagement with the natural environment (£1bn over 10 years); and the protection and restoration of biodiversity (£1bn over 10 years); the latter of which accounts for investment in coverage of protected areas, managing pressures on habitats, increasing species’ abundance and reversing losses covering both terrestrial and marine biodiversity.

Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas, chief executive of GFI, said: “The data is conclusive that public investment - even if funding commitments increase - will not be enough to fund the UK’s nature recovery ambitions. Private investment is therefore urgently required in addition to public sector funding if we hope to transition to a net zero and nature-positive economy.

“Having identified the scale of investment needed, and where it is needed, we must now focus on unlocking barriers to the mobilisation of private finance into nature-positive projects and businesses right across the UK. "Harnessing the momentum of the Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 and COP26, there is an opportunity to create high integrity environmental markets and investment opportunities that work for nature, society and the economy to help close this UK finance gap.”