Our Mission
In line with the broader Green Finance Institute’s vision of a greener future made possible by finance, the Nature Team (GFI Hive) is committed to supporting the transition of the global economy to one that values and invests in the natural environment.
Our mission is to increase the role of the private sector in paying for and investing in nature restoration, nature-based solutions and nature-positive outcomes, ensuring that communities are engaged and rewarded within this new paradigm.
We are wholly outcomes focused and seek to:
- identify and support mechanisms and models that can unlock private sector finance into nature restoration in the near term – such as through nature markets, or through supply chain or business resilience models, while simultaneously
- laying the foundations for a transition of the entire economy to become nature positive – such as through supporting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the development of sectoral pathways (Nature Positive Pathways).
Like our colleagues across GFI, we began our work in the UK partnering with the finance sector, government, academia, environmental NGOs and land managers to identify and unlock barriers to this mission. We have since expanded to now work internationally, such as through the Revenues for Nature global initiative with partners UNEP FI and UNDP Biofin.
Our funding is provided predominantly by philanthropic organisations with additional support from government.
Our Programmes of Work
We have a wide range of programmes across the team:
UK Nature Finance
In the UK, we work to unlock supply, demand and enabling market infrastructure to support the development of markets and mechanisms that unlock private sector investment into nature restoration and nature-based solutions. We convene sprint groups to identify barriers, and then co-design solutions. These are across:
In addition we work with the UK’s financial sector under G-FIN to address barriers to financial institution engagement.
Investment Readiness
We support and advise on on the UK’s £15m+ Investment Readiness Funds that help develop supply pipeline, and we design and manage toolkits as free resources for hundreds of land managers, project developers and farmers to speed up pipeline and identify barriers.
Nature-related Risks
In addition to hosting the global Secretariat for the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, GFI’s nature team also runs the UK National Consultation Group, supporting over 600 UK companies as they seek to understand and report on their nature-related impacts and dependencies. Content, such as board decks, is developed by the team to further support early adoption of the TNFD framework.
International Nature Finance
Under our programme, Revenues for Nature, with UNEP FI and UNDP Biofin, we seek to identify successful models that unlock private sector investment into nature restoration to help us meet the targets set out in the Global Biodiversity Framework. We aim to share lessons learned, guidebooks for replication and support the implementation of any replicated models and mechanisms.
GFI also oversees the Land, Nature, and Adapted Systems Advisory Group (LNAS) advising the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on definitions of economic activities that can be defined as environmentally sustainable as part of the broader UK Green Taxonomy.
GFI Hive is funded by philanthropic donors and government and we invite you to connect with us using the email below and by subscribing to our monthly newsletter.