Lloyds Banking Group Joins Forces with Projects for Nature to Spearhead Nature Recovery Initiatives

Lloyds Banking Group Joins Forces with Projects for Nature to Spearhead Nature Recovery Initiatives

(IN BRIEF) Lloyds Banking Group has entered into a pioneering partnership with Projects for Nature, becoming its first founding business partner. With a £250,000 donation split among three nature recovery projects in England, Lloyds aims to address national nature recovery priorities such as flood management, wildlife corridors, and regenerative agriculture. These initiatives, overseen by Defra, Natural England, and the Environment Agency, aim to foster biodiversity, reduce flooding, capture carbon, and enhance the rural economy. By collaborating with local landowners and experts, Lloyds seeks to prioritize community outcomes while gathering insights into the commercial risk management and environmental benefits of nature-based solutions. This strategic move underscores Lloyds’ commitment to combating nature loss and fostering a resilient natural environment for future generations, aligning with broader efforts to advance sustainable development goals.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 12-Mar-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — Lloyds Banking Group has announced a strategic partnership with Projects for Nature to upgrade the protection and restoration of England’s natural environment. Projects for Nature, launched by the Secretary of State for Defra at COP28 in December 2023, connects companies with nature recovery projects that have been screened by Defra, Natural England and the Environment Agency.

This partnership is the first of its kind, and as a founding business partner, Lloyds Banking Group has donated £250,000 split between three nature recovery projects.

The projects are designed to address national nature recovery priorities and spearhead efforts to secure wider societal benefits for Britain’s communities.

Lloyds Banking Group will also be able to gather learnings about both the commercial risk management and environmental benefits of nature-based solutions, including flood risk management and regenerative agriculture to support the Group’s long-term nature strategy and its own biodiversity gain with customers and clients.

Local landowners and experts will play a key role in delivering the projects, to help ensure outcomes for communities are at the heart of the partnership’s efforts.

• Weald to Waves: Creation of a 100-mile nature recovery corridor, connecting over 20,000ha of habitats along 3 main rivers in Sussex to the coast; helping to boost biodiversity, reduce flooding, capture carbon and enhance the rural economy. The land-manager led project, run in collaboration with the Knepp Wildland Foundation, aims to offer a blueprint for nature recovery across built-up landscapes.
• Resilient Glenderamackin: Project in Cumbria aims to deliver nature-based solutions to reduce flood risk, restore nature and mitigate climate change. Led by the West Cumbria Rivers Trust, the project will be co-designed with farmers and land managers to ensure the natural flood management interventions – which include re-wiggling rivers, planting trees and restoring wetlands. Over 40 land managers, including 3 commons associations, covering 11,000ha are already supporting the project.
• Peak District – Nature Recovery at Dalehead: The National Trust are working with partners and tenant farmers in the High Peak to establish more trees, healthy peatlands, and thriving wetlands and grasslands. This will help to improve soil health and water quality, create more space for nature, increase resilience in a changing climate, as well as increase and provide public access for communities to enjoy the shared history of the landscape. The funding will support the restoration of 2.6km of wetland on a site nestled between the iconic landmarks of Mam Tor and Kinder Scout.

Andrew Walton, Chief Sustainability Officer, Lloyds Banking Group said: “The UK ranks among the most nature-depleted countries globally, highlighting the pressing need for collective action. As the UK’s largest financial services provider, we recognise the crucial role we must play in tackling the loss of nature to ensure a more resilient and thriving natural environment for the future.”

Becoming a founding partner of Projects for Nature will enable us to make a tangible difference to combating nature loss in communities across England, exploring innovative approaches to protect and restore our natural ecosystems, ultimately helping Britain prosper. ”

Justin Francis, Chair of Projects for Nature said: “It has been hugely encouraging to see that businesses, their employees and customers, are increasingly interested in taking action to address their impacts on nature—whilst actively looking for ways to aid its recovery. Projects for Nature helps to bridge the gap, providing a digital platform that connects carefully selected corporate supporters, with 25 of England’s very best nature recovery projects, that have been initially funded by Government and screened by its agencies.

“Whilst support from corporate donors for the projects is additional to any actions taken to avoid and reduce their own environmental impacts, our monitoring framework can help businesses evidence their contributions towards their nature targets from the Science Based Targets Network and form part of their reporting under the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosure framework.

“We are incredibly grateful to Lloyds Banking Group for supporting this initiative, and I am thrilled to welcome them as our first founding business partner.”

Notes to Editors
Lloyds Banking Group is the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with around 26 million customers and a presence in nearly every community. Our main business activities include retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland
and Scottish Widows. Our purpose is Helping Britain Prosper. We have served Britain through our products and services for more than 320 years, across every community, and millions of households. Our success is interwoven with the UK’s prosperity, and we aim to Help Britain Prosper by operating as a responsible, sustainable and inclusive Group.

Projects for Nature is an online platform, which matches corporate donations to nature recovery projects, screened by Defra, Natural England and Environment Agency. Launched at COP28 by the Secretary of State to align with the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), the initiative established a pioneering partnership with the Council for Sustainable
Business, Crowdfunder, and Accenture—bringing together government, expert bodies, NGOs, businesses, and the public to fund nature. A diverse portfolio of 25 projects has been selected for the first phase, with diversity in scale, desired outcomes, and geographic spread across England—as well as a variety of societal benefits. Businesses on the platform are screened to confirm they are already taking action to avoid and reduce their own environmental impacts, as a prerequisite for their funding of Projects for Nature. Projects on the platform cannot be used as offsets.

Media Contact:

Adam Charles
adam.charles@lloydsbanking.com
07387745658

SOURCE: Lloyds Bank plc