£40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund will create jobs in nature recovery and conservation

Government’s £40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund opens for applications

Grants from £50k to £5 million are now available to help the nation build back greener from the coronavirus pandemic, the government announced today [14 September].

The £40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund, part of the government’s wider green economic recovery, jobs and skills package, brings forward funding for environmental charities and their partners to start work on projects across England to restore nature and tackle climate change.

The fund will help create up to 3,000 jobs and safeguard up to 2,000 others in areas such as protecting species, finding nature-based solutions to tackling climate change, conservation rangers and connecting people with nature. Up to 100% of project costs will be available.

The fund will be delivered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

All projects must contribute to at least one of the following themes of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund:

• nature conservation and restoration;
• nature-based solutions, particularly focused on climate change mitigation and adaptation such as through tree planting and restoring peatland; and,
• connecting people with nature.

Projects will be favoured that create or retain jobs, creating opportunities and benefits for all ages, including young people. The fund is open to environmental charities and partnerships that include at least one environmental charity, while projects from both rural, urban and inshore marine areas are welcomed.

The fund will create a broad range of jobs such as ecologists, surveyors, nature reserve staff and education workers in environment organisations, and support their suppliers in areas such as agricultural engineering, horticulture, and equipment and seed supply.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow, said:

I am delighted to launch our game-changing fund to kick-start projects to halt the loss of wildlife and tackle climate change, as we build back greener from the coronavirus pandemic.

Our ambitious fund will help environmental organisations employ more people to work on tree-planting, nature restoration and helping the public enjoy the outdoors, and I encourage organisations to step forward and apply so we can make a real difference to nature whilst also creating jobs.

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is funded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by bringing forward £10 million of money from the Nature Recovery Fund and £30 million of Nature for Climate Funding.

Natural England Chair Tony Juniper, said:

Access to a thriving natural environment is essential for the nation’s health and wellbeing, and this fund will deliver real on-the-ground benefits for people and wildlife alike as we emerge from the coronavirus crisis.

This fund will also provide a long-term boost for those wanting to build a career in the environmental sector, and help secure a flourishing environment that we need for a healthy future.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:

Reaching net zero by 2050 and achieving the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan goals for nature can only be done by employing the right skills. A lack of STEM skills is estimated to cost industry £1.5 billion a year in recruitment, inflated salaries, and additional training costs.

The £40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund is a step in the right direction and will help the UK economy be more competitive in the future.

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive, National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

I am delighted that we are distributing the Green Recovery Challenge Fund on behalf of Defra and working alongside our partners at Natural England and the Environment Agency.

We are committed to supporting the nature and environment sector quickly and effectively through this Fund.

Applicants for over £250k must submit expressions of interest by 24 September and if successful full applications by 26 October. The deadline for applications under £250k is 2 October.

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund forms part of a wider package to boost the economy announced earlier this year by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Prime Minister also re-iterated the government’s commitment to re-foresting Britain by increasing planting to 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) of trees every year by 2025, and create a new patchwork of woodlands. The government has recently consulted on a new England Tree Strategy to expand tree cover, support woodland management and increase public engagement with trees and woodlands.

The government’s flagship Environment Bill puts the environment at the centre of policy making to ensure that we have a cleaner, greener and more resilient country for the next generation.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced £350 million is being made available to cut emissions in heavy industry and drive economic recovery from coronavirus on the 22nd July:

• Around £350 million made available to cut emissions in heavy industry and drive economic recovery from coronavirus
• Funding will help drive decarbonisation of heavy industry, construction, space and transport – helping to meet PM’s goal of leading the most ambitious environmental programme worldwide
• PM launches first meeting of Jet Zero Council, tasked with making net-zero emissions possible for future flights

UK industry will receive around £350 million to cut down carbon emissions under new plans to step up efforts to tackle climate change, PM Boris Johnson announced today (22 July).

The multimillion pound investment package will build on the Prime Minister’s work throughout his first year in office to drive forward progress on the UK’s target to reach net zero by 2050, by helping businesses to decarbonise across the heavy industry, construction, space and transport sectors and to secure the UK’s place at the forefront of green innovation.

The investment comes ahead of the PM launching the first meeting of the Jet Zero Council later today, which will bring together government, representatives from the environmental sector and the aviation and aerospace industry to tackle aviation emissions in line with the government’s ambition to achieve the first ever zero emission long haul passenger plane.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

We’ve made great strides towards our net zero target over the last year, but it’s more important than ever that we keep up the pace of change to fuel a green, sustainable recovery as we rebuild from the pandemic.

The UK now has a huge opportunity to cement its place at the vanguard of green innovation, setting an example worldwide while growing the economy and creating new jobs.

That’s why we’re backing cutting edge research to cut costs and carbon across our great British industries, and even paving the way for the first ever zero emission long haul passenger flight – so that our green ambitions remain sky high as we build back better for both our people and our planet.

Business and Energy Secretary, Alok Sharma, said:

Climate change is among the greatest challenges of our age. To tackle it we need to unleash innovation in businesses across the country.

This funding will reduce emissions, create green collar jobs and fuel a strong, clean economic recovery – all essential to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face today, and tackling it will require action from everybody. This is why we’re bringing together Government, businesses and investors in a ground breaking new partnership.

The Jet Zero Council is a huge step forward in making change – as we push forward with innovative technologies such as sustainable fuels and eventually fully electric planes, we will achieve guilt-free flying and boost sustainability for years to come.

The projects set to receive funding will work on developing new technologies that could help companies switch to more energy-efficient means of production, use data more effectively to tackle the impacts of climate change, and help support the creation of new green jobs by driving innovation and growth in UK industries.

The package includes:

• £139 million to cut emissions in heavy industry by supporting the transition from natural gas to clean hydrogen power, and scaling up carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology which can stop over 90% of emissions being released from industrial plants into the air by storing carbon permanently underground

• £149 million to drive the use of innovative materials in heavy industry; the 13 initial projects will include proposals to reuse waste ash in the glass and ceramics industry, and the development of recyclable steel

• £26 million to support advanced new building techniques in order to reduce build costs and carbon emissions in the construction industry

• A £10 million boost for state of the art construction tech which will go towards 19 projects focused on improving productivity and building quality, for example, re-usable roofs and walls and “digital clones” of buildings that analyse data in real time

• Launching a New National Space Innovation Programme backed by £15 million initial funding from the UK Space Agency, which will see the first £10million go towards projects that will monitor climate change across the globe, which could protect local areas from the impacts of extreme weather by identifying changes in the environment

• Opening up bids for a further £10million for R&D in the automotive sector, to help companies take cutting edge ideas from prototype to market, including more efficient electric motors or more powerful batteries

Chaired by the Transport and Business Secretaries, today’s first ever Jet Zero council meeting will discuss how to decarbonise the aviation sector while supporting its growth and strengthening the UK’s position as a world leader in the sector.

The members will look at how to work across their sectors to achieve these goals, including through brand new aircraft and engine technologies. These could include using new synthetic and sustainable aviation fuels as a clean substitute for fossil jet fuel, and eventually the development of electric planes.

One year on from taking office, today’s announcements form part of the PM’s wider efforts to ensure the UK meets its legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050, whilst also driving forward a green recovery from the pandemic.

So far this year, this includes committing to consult on ending the sale of new petrol, diesel or hybrid cars by 2035 or earlier; launching the Transport Decarbonisation Plan to cut emissions across the sector; providing over £1 billion at Budget to support the rollout of ultra-low emission vehicles in the UK via support for a super-fast charging network for electric vehicles; and committing up to £100 million of new funding for research to develop a brand new clean technology, Direct Air Capture.

Over the past decade, the UK has cut carbon emissions by more than any similar developed country. In 2019, UK emissions were 42% lower than in 1990, while our economy over the same period grew by 72%.