TO BE PUBLISHED January 2027
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This conference will examine next steps for natural capital policy in England, including how environmental assets, risks and benefits are taken into account in decisions on land use, development, public spending and private investment.
The agenda will focus on questions around the evidence and valuation arrangements needed to inform decision-making, and the interaction between nature recovery, development, infrastructure and food production. Approaches to financing environmental outcomes and supporting participation by land managers and businesses will also be considered, as well as priorities for fostering confidence and integrity in developing nature markets.
The conference will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to consider key issues as new approaches to land use, environmental delivery and private investment are put into practice. Areas for discussion include principles in the Land Use Framework for England for informing decisions where demands on land may compete, and the Government’s developing approach to increasing private investment in nature recovery. The implementation of Environmental Delivery Plans and the Nature Restoration Fund will also be assessed, with the evidence base and proposed conservation measures for the first draft EDP currently being consulted on, aimed at addressing nutrient pollution from development affecting protected sites in Norfolk.
Delegates will examine how natural capital evidence and valuation are being used in appraisal, spending and investment decisions, where further evidence may be needed, and options for how current approaches and methodologies might develop. Discussion will assess the contribution of public funding and regulatory frameworks to investment in environmental outcomes, alongside the factors affecting voluntary investment and participation. The agenda will also consider what is needed from developing standards, assurance and reporting arrangements to support confidence in environmental markets, and the factors affecting demand for nature-related investment.
We also expect discussion on the practical conditions affecting participation by land managers and other suppliers, including implications of long-term commitments, transaction costs and policy or market uncertainty. Delegates will consider how costs, risks and responsibilities are shared across land managers, developers, businesses, buyers and investors, and what this means for the viability and long-term delivery of environmental projects.
Evidence, valuation & natural capital in decision-making
The conference will examine the use of evidence on England’s natural capital in appraisal, spending and investment decisions, including approaches to valuation and the treatment of uncertainty.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- evidence base:
- Defra’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme and development of the national baseline to 2029 - forthcoming ONS natural capital accounts
- data gaps and methodological consistency at regional and national level
- valuation approaches: stocks, flows and ecosystem services - economic and physical measures - where monetary valuation is useful - reflecting uncertainty in evidence and valuations
- appraisal in practice:
- revised Green Book - environmental principles and biodiversity considerations
- Defra’s Enabling a Natural Capital Approach guidance - implications for option selection and business cases
- fiscal & economic policy:
- Environmental Audit Committee inquiry into HM Treasury and the economics of climate and nature
- treatment of long-term environmental risks and benefits in spending and fiscal decisions - natural capital measures alongside conventional economic indicators
- organisational decisions: visibility of nature-related risks and benefits to businesses and investors - implications for investment, risk assessment and allocation of capital
Land use, development & environmental delivery
Priorities will be considered for integrating environmental objectives into decisions on land and development, alongside options for strengthening delivery as newer mechanisms are implemented in practice.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- land use priorities:
- implementation of the Land Use Framework for England - decisions where demands on land may compete
- nature recovery, food production, housing, infrastructure and resilience
- Environmental Delivery Plans: first draft EDP addressing nutrient pollution affecting protected sites in Norfolk - evidence and proposed conservation measures - lessons for subsequent plans
- Nature Restoration Fund:
- levy-funded strategic mitigation as an alternative to project-level provision - securing and monitoring environmental improvement
- implications for developers and suppliers of nature services
- Biodiversity Net Gain:
- reforms affecting smaller sites and the gain hierarchy - proposed treatment of brownfield residential development
- mandatory BNG for English onshore Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects - implications for unit demand and habitat-bank viability
- wider delivery mechanisms: nutrient neutrality and the Marine Recovery Fund - interaction between different approaches - securing environmental outcomes over the required period
- delivery & capacity:
- roles of Natural England, local partners and delivery bodies - monitoring and reporting
- progress against Environmental Improvement Plan, 30by30 and habitat-creation commitments
Investment, land management & participation
Sessions will assess approaches to financing environmental outcomes and the support for viable participation needed by land managers and other suppliers.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- investment pipeline:
- progress towards Government ambitions for private investment in nature recovery
- NAO scrutiny of schemes intended to leverage private finance - availability of investible projects
- public & private finance: appropriate uses of public funding and private capital - blended finance and risk-sharing - additionality - first-loss and catalytic public investment
- land manager participation:
- private investment interaction with Environmental Land Management schemes and the Sustainable Farming Incentive
- advice, transaction costs and investment readiness - tenancy and succession - long-term land commitments
- project viability: measurable environmental outcomes - permanence, exit and default risk - allocation of costs and risks between land managers, investors and intermediaries
- aggregation & partnerships: routes for smaller land managers and projects to participate - landscape-scale schemes - combining supply and reducing transaction costs
- funding arrangements:
- stacking and bundling different environmental outcomes - use of public funding alongside private finance
- avoiding double counting and clarifying where funding is supporting genuinely additional environmental outcomes
Nature market demand, integrity & standards
Further discussion will examine the considerations for developing credible and functioning nature and carbon markets, including buyer demand, credit quality, assurance and the claims made about environmental outcomes.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- market demand: scale and reliability of voluntary demand - role of compliance mechanisms and other policy levers - reducing uncertainty for buyers and suppliers
- voluntary & compliance markets: respective applications and interaction - relationship between environmental credits, value-chain action and insetting
- Nature Investment Standards:
- BSI Flex 700 series - biodiversity and nutrient-market standards
- carbon and community-engagement standards in development - adoption and assurance in practice
- credit integrity: baselines, measurement, reporting and verification - additionality and permanence - disclosure and claims - double counting and greenwashing risk
- reporting & disclosure: UK Sustainability Reporting Standards - Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures - links between disclosure, risk assessment and investment decisions
- market infrastructure: UK Land Carbon Registry - governance, monitoring and reporting - information available to buyers, suppliers and investors
- established carbon standards: Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code - developments in wider integrity requirements and recognition
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department for Transport; Environment Agency; Government Legal Department; Homes England; Marine Management Organisation; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Ministry of Justice; Office for Environmental Protection; Ofwat; and the Isle of Man Government.
