How can we make our money and consumer choices do more for nature?

This winter has provided us with stark reminders of how important our relationship with the natural world is, not least the impact of floods affecting thousands across Scotland. Thankfully, we can do a lot to increase our ‘resilience’ to these events, by working with nature and harnessing what it can do for the rest of us.

Planting native trees upstream of towns to slow the runoff of water, creating coastal habitats, and restoring our peat bogs – are all ‘no brainers’ when it comes to conservation. Forests and peat bogs control water flow, provide homes for wildlife, and fight climate change by locking up carbon. They also save us money in the long-term, avoiding flood damage, or keeping water bills down because dissolved carbon that ‘stains’ water no longer enters our rivers.

There are, excitingly, a number of projects across Scotland doing just these things, including at RSPB sites like Skinflats and Nigg Bay, where we have breached sea walls at carefully chosen spots to create valuable saltmarsh habitat and protect the surrounding coast. But there aren’t nearly enough, and they often depend on charities and unlike in England there is a lack of public funding to support these bold actions.

What we haven’t quite got to grips with yet, is how we do these things at a national scale, and crucially, who should pay the upfront costs? How do we build-in the costs of maintaining healthy ecosystems to our economy, the money we spend and save, rather than as an optional ‘add-on’, or reacting in haste – and often with the wrong solutions – when the damage is already done?

These questions are not new, and are being looked at in increasing detail by groups like Scotland’s Natural Capital Forum, on which I sit. But, with extreme weather events becoming more of a reality every year, and sea level rise likely to put more pressure on ageing sea walls, we need to start turning bright ideas into practical action.

So what opportunities are there to fund conservation in more innovative ways?

One thing we can do is look to other sectors to see what models are making a difference. The Green Investment Bank (GIB), a UK Government-owned bank established in 2010 with legally binding green aims (the first of its kind in Britain), has been successful in stimulating £3 of investment for every £1 of its own money used to support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. There have been calls for it to branch out into ‘natural capital’, by investing in projects which improve our natural environment, and bring financial returns. An example could be a loan to a Council to support natural flood management in priority areas, paid back as benefits accrue - not dissimilar to an energy efficiency project. I admit I am disappointed that the UK GIB does not invest in restoring peatlands, or reducing carbon losses from forests. It could learn from what happens in Denmark and Germany.

Unfortunately, at the same time as we discuss our response to the floods and look for a broadening of the GIB’s role, the UK Government plans to privatise the Green Investment Bank. Although it's possible that the bank's core green aims will be protected through the issuance of a 'special share' to a specially created charity, there are still widespread concerns that removing state ownership altogether will inevitably reduce its willingness to take risks and act in the wider public good to stimulate innovation.   

Models in Scotland could include the Scottish Futures Trust’s Low Carbon Energy programme, which invests in public sector projects to generate cost and carbon savings, like upgrading street lights. What’s to stop this scheme being expanded to invest in things like peatland restoration or large-scale coastal realignment? With 600,000ha of restorable peatland in Scotland, there are many projects ready to go – if we can get the finance and accounting systems in place. 

There is also increasing interest in ‘citizen finance’ models like savings accounts or bonds, which would allow individuals to support exciting environmental projects across Scotland. The industry body, Scottish Renewables, has called on the Scottish Government to create a ‘Renewable Energy Bond’. Why not pursue joined up green financing and create a ‘Green Bond’ to increase both sustainable energy and ‘natural capital’?

Personally, I love the idea of having a ‘Green ISA’ where my savings could help to plant the forests of the future, fund community-owned renewable energy, create functioning wetlands, or set up a district heating scheme, all things that help to protect wildlife in the long-term. 

But to do this we must all recognise the ‘value’ of natural capital, and of nature. My passion for conserving species and habitats and creating a more sustainable world is driven by the enormous sense of wellbeing nature gives people – rich or poor; and the knowledge that without nature, we as a species will ultimately fail. But we need decision makers to realise that investing in nature and increasing our stock of ‘natural capital’ is good for building a resilient economy, offers more opportunities for all Scots and enriches our lives in equal measure.