At COP16 – the global UN nature conference in Cali, Colombia – today is Finance and Biodiversity Day.  

Increasing the amount invested in nature, as well as reducing the harmful subsidies for nature’s destruction, is critical to meeting the environmental goals the world signed up to through the Global Biodiversity Framework. This week, the UK Government has the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how this can be achieved at home as Rachel Reeves announces her Budget on Wednesday in one of the most anticipated moments of the new Government.  

The Chancellor has promised to use Labour’s first budget in more than a decade to reboot economic growth by prioritising investment in infrastructure and repairing public services. But to get Britain growing, investment in repairing our natural infrastructure cannot be forgotten.  

There is clear evidence that environmental decline is already slowing economic growth. Analysis from the World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that half of all economic activity is moderately or highly dependent on nature, but its decline now makes it one of the top four risks to the global economy over the next decade. Research shows that this could lead to an estimated 12 per cent loss of GDP as early as 2030. This estimated loss is larger than that resulting from the global financial crisis and Covid-19 pandemic. 

To support long-term economic growth, and not put a sticking plaster over the cracks that the chronic loss of nature is causing to the economy, investing in natural infrastructure is critical. This will not only create a more resilient economy but would also improve millions of people’s lives with better access to nature, enhance food and water security, and enable the UK to meet its climate goals.   

So here are three key things The Wildlife Trusts are looking out for when the Chancellor delivers her Budget this week: 

1. An increase in the budget for nature-friendly farming 

The destruction of nature and the impacts of climate change are the biggest threats to food security in the UK. Food production relies on healthy soils, clean water, and resilience to climate change. But farming is one of the main causes of wildlife declines, as well as the leading cause of river pollution in England. 

Soil degradation alone has been calculated to cost £1.2 billion every year. By supporting farmers to shift towards regenerative, nature-friendly methods, farming has huge potential to deliver a green rural renewal and reverse nature’s decline. Indeed, many farmers and land managers have gone to great lengths to support wildlife, but haven’t been adequately rewarded, with the real terms value of the budget for environmental farming falling by a third since 2010. 

Worryingly, there have been rumours that the Government are looking to make further cuts to the nature-friendly farming budget to help fill the Treasury shortfall. This would put our nature and climate targets out of reach and put the resilience of UK farming at risk. Our analysis estimates that the budget needs to be increased to £5.9 billion per annum across the UK to meet legally binding nature and climate targets. This would future proof British farming by restoring habitats to protect communities and farmers from flooding, mitigate against the wider impacts of climate change, and improve soil health.  

2. New strategic funding to improve our natural infrastructure   

Important existing funding pots, such as the Nature for Climate fund, which invests in woodland creation and peatland restoration, are due to expire in March 2025. These funds have been significant contributors to supporting species recovery and creating new habitats, but now have no clarity on their future. Without their continuation, habitat restoration activities run the risk of becoming substantially underfunded and targets such as woodland creation missed.  

The Government should support the continuation of these important funds as well as looking at establishing a longer-term Strategic Nature Investment Fund. This would overcome the limitations from short term investment to support the UK’s critical natural infrastructure. By bringing together public and private finance, a new strategic fund would help support delivery of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan and the priorities for nature’s recovery identified by Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs).  

3. Investment in regulators and local authorities 

“We must build for growth”. That was the message from Rachel Reeves in her speech to Labour Party Conference last month and investment in house building and big infrastructure projects is expected to be a key feature of the upcoming Budget.  

The Wildlife Trusts’ recent report ‘Swift and Wild’ demonstrates that by embedding nature recovery into the planning system, we can tackle the nature, climate and housing challenges together as well as accelerating the development of new infrastructure the country needs.  

Critical to preventing delays in the planning system will be increasing the capacity for regulators, such as Natural England and the Environment Agency, and Local Authorities to provide expert ecological advice. 

The Environment Agency workload is increasing due to new freshwater pollution pressures and targets to reduce water pollution, and years of under-resourcing of Natural England has also left it unable to fulfil statutory functions. Yet enforcement funding for the Environment Agency has faced recent cuts and Natural England has seen its budget drop for the first time in five years. 

As the Chancellor’s ambition for investment in renewables, house building and sustainable transport rightly increases, investment in environmental planning needs to keep pace. Without uplifts in the Natural England budget and funding for Local Authorities, frustrations will mount as delays to development increase.  

The recent Dasgupta Review demonstrated that we can no longer afford to continue with business as usual, investing in the polluting infrastructure of the past and stripping back environmental protections. If action is delayed by just 10 years, the cost to society will double.  

As the UK Government looks to establish itself as an environmental leader on the world stage at COP16, the opportunity for the Chancellor to demonstrate that leadership at home on Wednesday should not be missed.