Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is encourage investment in (a) hedgerows and (b) other nature-based climate solutions.

HM Government is investing in nature based solutions more than ever before, from a range of sources. This includes our £750m Nature for Climate Fund. We are also introducing three new environmental land management schemes that will invest in a range of nature based solutions: the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI); Local Nature Recovery; and Landscape Recovery. These schemes will pay for sustainable farming practices, such as reducing carbon emissions, creating, and preserving habitat, such as hedgerows, and making landscape-scale environmental changes, all of which are important steps towards achieving our 25 Year Environment Plan ambitions and our carbon net zero goals.  A Hedgerow Standard has been included within the initial phase of piloting of the SFI scheme. Capital grants to support the planting and reinstatement of hedgerows are currently available via the Countryside Stewardship scheme. The SFI will also focus on grassland management, agro-forestry, cropland management, soil management, and nutrient management.

In addition to the public funding, we are enabling a step change in investment flows from the private sector, and we are developing our environmental land management schemes for farmers and landowners so that they can crowd in private investment. HM Government has set a new target to raise at least £500 million in private finance to support nature's recovery every year by 2027 in England, rising to more than £1 billion per year by 2030. We are putting in place the conditions for the private sector to invest in nature-based solutions, including through our Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund which is supporting the development of 86 projects across England, which have the potential to generate revenue from ecosystem services in order to attract and repay investment. We are also developing a blended finance Big Nature Impact Fund which will leverage private capital to invest in such projects.