Projects for Nature is different to other platforms for two reasons. Firstly, the nature recovery projects on the platform have been screened and selected by Defra, Natural England, and Environment Agency, due to their alignment with national and local priorities for nature recovery. The projects selected for the pilot phase represent a diverse portfolio, with different scale, geographies, and desired outcomes. Projects tend to cover outcomes not supported through private finance, such as carbon markets or Biodiversity Net Gain; they support ecosystem services for which a market doesn’t yet exist or pay for critical outcomes such as species recovery, restoration of rare habitats, and improving access to nature.

Secondly, businesses on the platform have been screened against criteria to protect against greenwashing. Businesses will have to demonstrate they are committed to addressing their climate and nature impact, as a precondition of gaining access to the Projects for Nature platform. This screening, alongside associated communications guidance, ensures that Projects for Nature funding is genuinely additional to businesses’ transition towards nature positive and net zero operations and aligns with the mitigation hierarchy appropriately.

By supporting projects on our platform, businesses can demonstrate their contribution to mitigating imminent nature loss beyond their supply chain. Businesses can use the diverse portfolio of projects to search and select projects that align best with their strategy and nature priorities, such as those identified when understanding their nature risks through TNFD (Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures) or when setting science-based targets for nature recovery under SBTN (Science Based Targets Network).