Rethinking the role of state institutions in nature recoveryProject
In England there has been a long-term trend towards the retrenchment of direct state spending and the role of government in nature conservation policy – what could an alternative vision for the state look like?
The English government (environmental policy is largely devolved) has ambitious plans for nature recovery, but its proposed strategy positions the government as a relatively passive player whose job is to create compliance markets and de-risk private investments in nature to ensure they deliver appealing returns. However, there are whole host of risks and negative unintended ecological and social consequences that could arise (Chausson et al. 2023).
There is a strong case for states to take a more proactive, mission-driven approach to guiding nature recovery (Mazzucato 2021; Kedward et al. 2022).
This LCNR-funded award allowed the PIs to hold a workshop with senior figures from government, eNGOs, finance and academic to explore the public policy programme that would underpin a mission-driven approach to driving nature recovery.
PIs on this project:
- Dr Sophus zu Ermgassen (Department of Biology, Oxford).
- Katie Kedward (Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, UCL)
- Professor Erik Gomez-Baggethun (Norwegian University of Life Sciences)
Project outputs
Read the Preprint here: Mission-Oriented Public Policy for Nature Recovery
A report arising from this workshop has been commissioned by The Woodland Trust, you can read it here. (Live on December 3rd)
Christoph Warrack of Woodland Savers
Project outputs
- Integration
Leading from the front. The Role of the Public Sector in Delivering Nature Recovery
This report sets out an expert opinion on how Government should approach the issues of funding and financing nature recovery in England.
The research takes as its starting point the essential importance of nature recovery and the headwinds so far experienced in achieving it. Taking account of the growing expectation that new nature markets will play a leading role in financing nature recovery, it then looks in detail at the risks and opportunities market mechanisms present and the steps the UK Government will need to take to oversee and regulate their use. Subsequent sections consider the essential and ongoing role of the public sector in supporting nature recovery and its under utilised potential to drive change.
Commissioned by the Woodland Trust, the research is intended to draw out key issues for policy makers and to stimulate thinking and debate.
Sophus zu Ermgassen, Katie Kedward, Andrew Allen, Alexandre Chausson, Michael Clark, Natalie Duffus, Georgina Holmes-Skelton, Mariana Mazzucato, Katherine Simpson, Puninda Thind, and Erik Gomez-Baggethun (2024). Mission-Oriented Public Policy for Nature Recovery. Ecological Economics.
This paper outlines the findings of an expert workshop exploring how policies for delivering nature recovery relate to the policy toolkit applied in mission-oriented strategy, and demonstrate how missions-thinking can be applied to nature recovery in England.
Team
News & events
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Leading from the front. The Role of the Public Sector in Delivering Nature Recovery
3 December 2024This week we are talking to Andy Allen, the Lead Policy Advocate on Land Use at The Woodland Trust. The Woodland Trust has today launched a new report entitled: Leading from the front. The Role of the Public Sector in Delivering Nature Recovery, which was compiled by Sophus O.S.E. zu Ermgassen, Katie Kedward, Robert J. […]
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If you believe…An alternative vision for role of the state with Dr. Sophus Zu Ermgassen
14 March 2024What role does the state have to play in nature recovery? If we are serious about halting the decline in biodiversity do we need to lay out a more ambitious agenda that can unify the currently fragmented aspects of private nature finance, state intervention and the role of public sector institutions. This is part of […]
news Podcast -
Mission-Oriented Public Policy for Nature Recovery
7 March 2024The English government (environmental policy is largely devolved) has ambitious plans for nature recovery, but its proposed strategy positions the government as a relatively passive player whose job is to create compliance markets and de-risk private investments in nature to ensure they deliver appealing returns. However, there are whole host of risks and negative unintended […]
news