Can private finance fix the nature crisis?

The Scottish Government has made scaling up woodland expansion and peatland restoration central pillars of its net zero strategy. But despite making commendable commitments, the pace and scale of action remain far too slow. Woodland creation targets have been consistently missed, and peatland restoration efforts are significantly behind schedule.

Given the shortfall of investment and strained public finances, in recent years the Scottish Government has taken steps to more attract private finance into nature restoration. Scotland is not alone: governments across the world have taken steps to attract private finance into nature projects. While relying less on public money and more on private investment may seem appealing, achieving this poses a number of key challenges. As a public good with low financial returns and large externalities, nature does not easily align with the expectations and demands of private finance.

Future Economy Scotland’s recent report, Restoring Nature to Deliver a Just Transition to Net Zero examines these challenges in detail, and calls into question whether private finance really can mobilise investment in nature on the scale needed.

This webinar will provide an opportunity to hear more about the report’s key findings, and ask questions about the analysis and recommendations. Key questions covered will include:

• What are the primary barriers to meeting Scotland’s woodland and peatland targets?
• How does the economics of nature restoration differ from other sectors of the economy?
• What is the scale of the ‘nature finance gap’, and is private finance needed to fill it?
• What are the costs, risks and benefits of different public and private investment models?
• What wider policy reforms can be implemented to support restoration on the scale needed?

The webinar will be hosted by Future Economy Scotland’s Co-Director Laurie Macfarlane and Senior Economist Hanna Wheatley, and followed by an audience Q+A.

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