Supporting Nature-Positive Projects with Space Technology
What is Nature Finance? Nature Finance places nature at the heart of financial decision-making. It is the flow of financial mechanisms, investments and strategies to...
The Context
We are in the midst of a polycrisis, of which environmental degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss are all part. Nature finance markets can support addressing these global scale challenges through incentivising investment into nature-positive projects at scale. Addressing these challenges requires a multi-faceted approach across multiple industries and from all stages of the innovation ecosystem. Global spending on nature-based solutions has reached around $200 billion[1], yet the global funding gap exceeds $700 billion[2] annually, underscoring the need for private-sector mobilisation. At the same time, financial institutions face increasing regulatory and disclosure pressures, accelerating demand for transparent, verifiable environmental data.
This is driving rapid uptake of satellite-enabled monitoring across asset verification, climate-risk assessment and disaster-risk finance, with organisations such as the European Central Bank[3] and World Bank[4] already integrating Earth observation into financial workflows. In the UK meeting nature-recovery goals will require £44-£97 billion[5] by 2030, while private investment remains modest at about £95 million[6] per year. These structural investment gaps, combined with rising expectations for high-integrity, auditable data under frameworks such as ISSB, SDR and TNFD, are accelerating the evolution of nature finance markets and creating strong demand for cross-industry, technology-enabled solutions that can operate at scale.
[1] Nature’s Newsroom-Nature4Climate
[2] Market Review of NBS – Finance Earth
[3] Destination Earth- Nov 2025
[4] Finance Protection Forum- Jun 2021
How do we see the market?
Biodiversity Market
Focused on creating and trading biodiversity credits to incentivised conservation efforts
Ecosystem Services
Monetising services provided by ecosystems, such as water purification, pollination, and soil health
Carbon Trading Credits
Encompasses carbon offset mechanisms and voluntary carbon markets (VCMs)
Monitoring and Verification
Tools enabling regulatory compliance and ESG disclosures related to nature
Nature-Linked Financial Instruments
Includes green bonds, sustainable loans, and nature insurance linked to nature risks
The nature finance market can be viewed through five interconnected segments – biodiversity markets, carbon markets, Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV), nature-linked financial instruments, and ecosystem services, each reflecting a different mechanism through which capital flows into nature.
Globally, biodiversity markets are gaining momentum as more countries introduce conservation crediting schemes under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework[7], with England’s[8] Biodiversity Net Gain policy[9] one of the first national-scale implementations. Biodiversity Units UK[10], estimate that by 2035, biodiversity markets could approach £3bn Carbon markets continue to evolve as demand for high-integrity, nature-based credits grows, supported by reforms such as the ICVCM[11] Core Carbon Principles and increasing issuance under standards like the Woodland[12] Carbon Code and Peatland[13] Carbon Code. Momentum behind MRV is also accelerating, driven by the rapid uptake of TNFD , now adopted by 733 companies adopting, a 46% increase since COP16 in October 2024[14] worldwide and a global shift toward digital, remote-sensing-enabled monitoring.
Nature-linked financial instruments are expanding in line with wider sustainable finance trends, reflected in more than $420bn[15] of cumulative issuance on the London Stock Exchange’s Sustainable Bond Market. Meanwhile, ecosystem services markets continue to emerge through water-quality trading, flood-mitigation investment and landscape-restoration programmes that are being piloted across Europe, North America and Asia.
Together, these developments signal a market moving from concept to implementation, shaped by growing regulatory clarity and a rising global demand for credible, investable nature outcomes.
[7] Convention on Biological Diversity- Jan, 2024
[8] Gov.uk Biodiversity net gain- Feb, 2024
[9] Gov.uk Biodiversity net gain- Feb, 2024
[10] Biodiversity Units UK — Revealed: The BNG Industry Report July 2025
[11] The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market
[12] Home | Woodland Carbon Code
[13] Forest Carbon | The Peatland Code | Certifying emissions avoidance
[15] Sustainable bonds on the London Stock Exchange – a decade of innovation | LSEG
What does the stakeholder landscape look like?
The way finance flows in nature finance markets is not linear, instead shaped by interaction between key stakeholders groups whose roles are mostly consistent across all the markets segments.
Demand side actors include property developers purchasing biodiversity credits, corporates buying carbon credits or verified ecosystem services, insurers seeking nature-based risk reduction and public bodies investing in environmental outcomes like cleaner water, enhanced soil health and greater landscape resilience.
Supply side actors are mainly landowners, farmers, project developers and conservation organisations who deliver the ecological improvements that underpins credits and nature related KPIs. They generate the outcomes that market pays for, whether restoring habitats, sequestrating carbon or enhancing wider ecosystems functions. Intermediaries sit between these groups and are central to market integrity. These include regulators, standard bodies, financial institutions, NGOs and technology providers.
Why are we focusing on Nature Finance markets in the UK?
The scale of the nature finance gap and capital waiting to be deployed represent significant opportunities for UK businesses. Highlighted in the Industrial Strategy’s Financial Services sector plan[16], the government is committed to maintaining the UK’s position as a global leader in sustainable finance. Relevant actions include streamlining regulatory frameworks and regulating ESG ratings providers. Nature finance markets are a core part of mobilising the capital required to deliver against the government’s objectives, at the same time supporting the wider national growth mission.
Addressing challenges in driving nature finance markets requires co-ordinated responses across regulatory, technological as well as commercial developments. The regulatory environment for nature is still evolving to meet the global challenges, technology exists to deliver against what’s needed but requires multi-faceted solutions to achieve goals, and commercial adoption of solutions to meet requirements is still slow. Supporting businesses developing solutions to meet these challenges is core to our role and can deliver both economic growth as well as ecological value. For the space sector, based on SAC analysis, we estimate the annual opportunity could approach £300m per year by 2030
[16] Financial_Services__Growth___Competitiveness_Strategy_final.pdf
What needs to change
Blocker: Fragmented, small projects and inconsistent standards are undermining investor confidence
+- Project fragmentation is preventing a significant amount of capital £xxx from being deployed into nature-positive projects. Investors want to invest in large scaled or aggregated assets.
- Investors have low confidence in the integrity of nature-positive projects and the standards that are in place to verify that integrity
- Long-term investment horizons for nature-positive projects, often 10-30 years, are misaligned with investor expectations
- Landowners and developers are struggling to structure financially viable projects and produce documentation that will satisfy investors needs
Potential Impact: If capital can be attracted at scale, we will encourage innovation, growth in nature-backed markets, enhance ecological and economic benefits and support closing the nature finance gap.
Blocker: Lack of trusted, verifiable metrics for biodiversity and carbon outcomes
+- Standardised methodologies for measuring baselines, uplift, additionality and permanence in nature projects are absent
- Field data of sufficient quality to calibrate and validate satellite derived nature metrics is limited
- Inconsistent ecological data formats and fragmented approaches to monitoring across habitat types and regions are also a challenge
- There is a lack of unified standards or guidance on what constitutes “verified nature uplift”
- Integrating nature metrics into investor risk and valuation models is difficult
Potential Impact: Building trust and credibility in data will ensure accountability and compliance, enable more investors to participate in nature markets, facilitate standardisation and enable financing that leads to nature related outcomes.
How can the space sector interact with Nature Finance stakeholders?
Financial Institutions, Regulator, and Large Corporates
+- Space derived data needs to be verifiable and auditable (especially if AI is used), and must meet requirements of major disclosure requirements e.g. TNFD, BNG
- Insights and data need to be easily integrated into business-as-usual processes and workflows, through commonly used platforms, tools and APIs that don’t require bespoke expertise
- Value propositions must be framed in the context of business challenges (revenue opportunities, cost reductions, risk reductions) and less in terms of the technology and its specific benefits
Government Departments and Bodies
+- Build relevant consortia and partnerships to engage with major procurements
- Build an evidence base to demonstrate that space-derived data and solutions can reduce monitoring costs, de-risk public investment and improve compliance with regulations
Project Developers and Intermediaries
+- Data needs to be verifiable and meet regulatory requirements but also interoperable with ground-based surveys
- Data needs to easily embed with existing tooling and/or provide simple methods to deliver against reporting requirements rather than adding new layers and tools to existing processes
How does the sector need to change to engage with these stakeholders?
Be outcome led
Value propositions must be driven by business challenges, the space component is secondary
Demonstrate ROI and quantifiable benefits
Case studies and comparative analysis demonstrating cost benefits and risk reduction are needed
Creation solutions that are interoperable and easily integrated
Data and insights must be delivered by standard formats, APIs and plug-ins for common business systems
Recognise the need for multi-technology solutions
Recognise that offers are likely to be part of multi-technology stacks and likely in combination with on-the-ground surveys
Case Study: Earth Blox
Nature risk is fast becoming a material financial risk. With 85 percent of the world’s largest companies in the S&P Global 1200 significantly dependent on nature, an estimated 28.9 trillion dollars in revenue is at risk[17].
Yet for many financial institutions, nature-related risk and opportunity indicators remain fragmented, inconsistent and difficult to apply. Unlike climate data, nature data is often highly technical and not structured for financial workflows. As exposure to nature becomes more material, there is a clear need for consistent, spatially explicit insight to inform decisions, reduce risk and identify new areas of value.
Citi was early to explore this shift. Working with geospatial analytics company Earth Blox, they scaled biodiversity risk assessments from two months to days, enabling analysis across millions of supply chain facilities. This increased efficiency, expanded indicator coverage and improved global visibility. Their 2024 report, Nature: Sustainability’s Next Frontier[18], outlines how geospatial tools are supporting the integration of nature-related risks.
Lloyds Banking Group applied a similar approach across 5.1 million hectares of UK farmland. Their analysis identified over 1 million hectares where targeted action — from habitat restoration to soil improvement — could strengthen resilience. These insights now guide risk planning, regional engagement and Lloyds’ Agriculture Transition Finance strategy, as detailed in their 2025 report, Farming with nature[19].
As the financial sector deepens its understanding of nature risk, geospatial insight will play a central role in shaping more resilient, opportunity-focused strategies.
Mike Mason, Chief Commercial Officer at Earth Blox
[17] S&P Global: How the world’s largest companies depend on nature and biodiversity, May 10, 2023
[18] Citi: Nature – Sustainability’s next frontier, November, 2024
[19] Lloyds Banking Group: Farming with nature, October 2025
What does the future look like?
A strong pipeline of large-scale, commercially feasible, nature-positive projects with clearly defined returns, risk profiles, and investor exit routes.
Simplified, standardised frameworks that facilitate the structuring of scalable projects and blended financing for SMEs, landowners, and local governments.
Reliable, scientifically supported MRV techniques that reduce uncertainty regarding additionality, permanence, and leakage by integrating space-enabled data into official standards.
What are we doing to support achieving this future?
- Developing recognised methodologies for nature monitoring through collaborative research with regulators, universities and industry. This will include running validation studies, publishing open guidance and benchmarking tools and supporting shared testbeds to build trust and unlock financing.
- Working with SMEs, landowners and restoration developers to convert early proof of concepts into repeatable, investment grade services. We’ll support business model support, develop adoption playbooks, help SMEs produce investor-ready documentation and enabling multi-site portfolio aggregation.
- Building adopter communities across investment, insurance, landowners, utilities and government to accelerate demand for space enabled nature services. This will include structured buyer-supplier matchmaking, documenting use cases and promoting the narrative of space-enabled capabilities to reduce buyer risk perception and embed those capabilities into procurement pipelines.
- Working with government, regulators and standards bodies to integrate space-enabled solutions into disclosure, traceability and reporting frameworks (ISSB, TNFD, CSRD, BNG). Including shaping regulation so nature markets can rely on auditable and certifiable space-derived evidence and convening workshops and roundtables to build consensus on trusted, standardised nature metrics.
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