NERC Call Now Open

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has launched a funding call entitled Integrating Finance and Biodiversity for a Nature Positive Future to create research networks to integrate finance and biodiversity for a nature positive future. Funding is available to:

• Develop research networks that will convene and catalyse a multi-stakeholder community.
• Support proof of concept projects to explore the gaps and integration between the financial system and biodiversity.

The Nature Positive Future programme is core to NERC’s ambitions to deliver environmental solutions and provide knowledge, capability and tools that link academic research to business needs.

This funding call will establish virtual hub and spoke networks that will convene and catalyse a multi-stakeholder community and support the integration of the financial system and biodiversity. Recognising this integration is complex, driven by the financial services community and rapid development of public policy. It will require underpinning academic data and knowledge of different scales, from local to international. This opportunity is designed to drive the development of knowledge, tools and a skilled community to incorporate reporting on biodiversity for all business sectors.

The environmental science community has the capacity to fill knowledge gaps, and provide environmental data and evidence to develop tools to incorporate biodiversity, as an asset or value, into private finance. In doing so, the community and financial sector can work together to help reverse the global trend of biodiversity depletion. This will be achieved through a change in business and consumer behaviour for a nature-positive future.

Projects are required to have a Principal Investigator based in a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding (ie approved higher education institutions, research council institutes, independent research organisations and public sector research establishments). NERC individual eligibility rules apply (refer to Section C of the NERC research grant and fellowships handbook).

All proposals are expected to have at least one project partner from the financial sector or business community and demonstrate strong engagement with this partner and relevant stakeholders outside of academia. International collaborators can be included where there is clear value to the proposed project.

The scheme’s total budget is £1.5 million. The full economic cost of the project can be up to £150,000. NERC will fund 80% of the full economic cost. Awards will be made for a 12-month duration. Projects must start by 3 January 2023.

There will be additional funding of up to £250,000 available for one or two of the successful phase one award holders to undertake a coordination and integration function for awards made in phase one.

Applications must be submitted by the deadline of 20 July 2022 (16:00).