Environment secretary Thérèse Coffey has announced a new package of support to meet nature targets ahead of the UN biodiversity summit next month, but some have described the message as “inconsistent” with recent “attacks on nature”.
The government support, announced at COP27, includes a pledge of £30 million to a new public-private fund Big Nature Impact Fund, which claims to invest in nature protection and restoration through projects such as carbon capture and is managed by Federated Hermes and Finance Earth in partnership with DEFRA.
Coffey also pledged an additional £12 million to the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, which aims to protect vulnerable coastal communities and habitats. She also committed £6 million in climate finance for developing countries to protect biodiversity as per the Paris Agreement, through the UNDP Climate Promise, among other measures.