Publish a Biodiversity Investment Plan for Scotland by the end of 2024 that contains actions to: support a range of finance mechanisms; promote value for money; and develop biodiversity markets in Scotland.
Objective 5: Invest in nature
Priority Action 25. Establish a values-led, high-integrity market for responsible private investment in natural capital.
The Biodiversity Investment Plan (“Investing in nature: a plan to support investment in biodiversity and climate adaptation in Scotland”) has been published. It sets out how Scotland plans to increase investment in nature by bringing together public, private, and philanthropic finance to support biodiversity outcomes, alongside the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery Plan.
The plan includes actions to:
– identify and map nature investment opportunities
– explore biodiversity finance and market approaches
– build skills and capacity in nature finance
– support value-for-money approaches to biodiversity investment
It also links to wider policy work such as the Natural Capital Market Framework and emerging tools for ecosystem restoration finance. However, most of these mechanisms are still in early development or testing stages, and there is no evidence yet of a fully functioning biodiversity investment market operating at scale in Scotland.
Overall, the plan acts as a framework for enabling investment rather than a delivery system, with outcomes depending on how quickly tools, governance, and investable projects are developed.
Although the Biodiversity Investment Plan has been published, implementation is still at an early stage. Key elements such as the Ecosystem Restoration Code, investment mapping tools, and nature finance skills development are still being developed or tested, and there is limited evidence of large-scale investment being delivered through these mechanisms so far.
Scottish Environment LINK has highlighted concerns that delivery timelines are unclear and that current approaches remain fragmented, with a need for a stronger system-wide approach that better links finance to ecological priorities. The Scottish Wildlife Trust similarly recognises the plan as a positive step, but stresses that progress must be faster if it is to deliver meaningful outcomes for nature and communities.
Overall, progress is real but still early-stage, and the plan has not yet translated into measurable system-wide biodiversity recovery.
For the Biodiversity Investment Plan to effectively support nature recovery, Scotland needs to move beyond planning and into delivery of operational finance systems. This means developing tools such as the Ecosystem Restoration Code and ensuring they are backed by clear and consistent standards for measuring and verifying ecological outcomes. Investment planning also needs to be more closely linked to priority areas for habitat restoration and species recovery, so that funding flows directly to the places where it can deliver the greatest ecological benefit.
Stronger coordination between government, investors, land managers and communities is also needed to ensure projects are both investable and ecologically meaningful. At the same time, better data, transparency and monitoring are required to show how investment translates into real improvements in biodiversity. Without these steps, there is a risk that the plan remains a strategic framework rather than a driver of on-the-ground change.
The plan is based on strong evidence that increased and well-targeted finance can support biodiversity through habitat restoration, peatland and woodland recovery, and wider ecosystem improvement. These are widely recognised as effective interventions for improving ecological condition and resilience.
However, as most of the proposed finance mechanisms are still in development or early testing, there is limited evidence that the plan is currently delivering large-scale ecological outcomes. Its contribution is therefore potential rather than demonstrated, with impacts depending on how quickly investment systems are implemented and scaled.
Scottish Government – Biodiversity Investment Plan (“Investing in nature”)
Scottish Environment LINK – Comments on draft Biodiversity Investment Plan
Scottish Environment LINK – Nature finance position paper
Scottish Wildlife Trust – Nature investment commentary
Promote the natural capital market framework to foster responsible, values-led private investment in nature while delivering benefits to local communities. It will do this by providing guidance to investors, land managers, and other stakeholders, offering tools and resources to develop sustainable projects.
Public funding streams that contribute to nature restoration will be designed in a way that they can be matched or blended with private finance or investment. - New ways of using available Peatland Action funding to leverage other sources of finance for peatland restoration will be tested from 2025/26. - New approaches to further increase the level of private investment in woodland…
Build on the experience of CivTech Challenge 8.6 with Credit Nature to explore development of new voluntary codes for nature restoration.
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