Ecorys appointed to evaluate Defra Natural environment Investment Readiness Fund

Ecorys UK is evaluating the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF) on behalf of Defra. NEIRF is a fund of up to £10 million to provide grants of up to £100,000 to strengthen the capacity of organisations to attract private investment. Grantees include public bodies, charities, private companies, and others, who will develop projects that deliver environmental outcomes towards the Government’s 25 Year Environmental Plan, while also generating revenue by trading ecosystem services.

In round 1, 29 projects received funding to provide Nature-Based Solutions such as selling Biodiversity Net Gain credits, for example, by creating new habitats, sequestering carbon by restoring peatland and creating woodland, restoring fluvial, wetland, coastal or marine environments, and selling resulting flood, water quality and other environmental benefits. Other projects are developing Codes to regulate the sale of carbon credits.

The second round of funding for NEIRF was announced on 8th November, as nations meet in Glasgow for COP26. It is hoped that programmes like NEIRF will help address the financing gap in the natural environment market, to achieve the UK’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

The evaluation includes process, impact, and value for money elements and will last from August 2021 to March 2024. It will involve document reviews, an annual survey, semi-structured interviews with projects leads, consultants, land managers, and other stakeholders, consultations with policymakers, and an economic analysis of environmental and financial outcomes. Through the evaluation, we will assess how different types of organisations and projects experienced taking part in NEIRF, to what extent they achieved their environmental and financial outcomes (including whether they accessed private investment), and the value for money of the project.

For more information, please contact Erica Bertolotto, Senior Research Manager.