Nature Positive investment opportunities through solar parks

January 2023 – March 2024

Achieving net zero and nature recovery, alongside a thriving economy and healthy society, requires the development of knowledge and tools that enable and incentivise significant investment to assure Nature Positive impacts. The UK solar park industry is in a prime position to identify and develop innovative practices that will enable better alignment of decisions on finance and investment with biodiversity and natural capital. However, specific investment opportunities and benefits are not well understood, and there are no guidelines regarding which indicators of natural capital are best suited to underpinning finance and investment decisions. In this project, we explored Nature Positive investment opportunities within the solar park value chain, and identified appropriate indicators and metrics to enable their monitoring and reporting for financial and ESG disclosures.

Nature Positive investment opportunities through solar parks continued

Objectives

1. To review and synthesise the range of Nature Positive outcomes from solar parks, including indicators and metrics currently used by different stakeholders for biodiversity, natural capital, and ecosystem service reporting.

2. To select metrics for quantifying the extent of Nature Positive outcomes and their economic value, that would be best suited for Nature Positive reporting and embedding into financial systems.

3. To understand the wider benefits and values associated with Nature Positive reporting and business opportunities arising from these.

4. To set up a community of research and practice on Nature Positive solar park investment.

Outcomes

Nature Positive indicators need to be standardised, representative, auditable and well- suited to showing trends over time.

Nature Positive indicators need to provide meaningful data that are relevant to high-level disclosure requirements across a portfolio of assets, and demonstrate tangible benefits to a wide range of stakeholders.

We identified a suite of indicators that would be best suited to the monitoring and reporting of Nature Positive actions at individual solar farms.

These indicators, which are detailed in our industry guidance, map well on to existing nature and sustainability disclosure frameworks, across the categories of ecosystem extent, ecosystem connectivity, ecosystem condition, ecosystem services, and engagement.

Adopting Nature Positive indicators into business practice and reporting can also deliver reputational value, and is of wider benefit to society and the environment.