Importance of investing in nature highlighted in 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy

The 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy has many strong references to the importance of nature as part of our critical infrastructure, the primacy of nature-based solutions, and the need for strategic spatial planning. It is very welcome to see these areas of policy being brought together into a single strategy. However, there is still a sense that thriving, resilient ecosystems are a “nice-to-have” or an add-on rather than absolutely fundamental to, and underpinning the success of, the transport, energy, and housing infrastructure which is the Treasury’s main focus for enabling growth.

While the focus on nature-based solutions and ‘green infrastructure’ at the top of the delivery hierarchy is right, there is much work to be done to enable the delivery of these solutions at the scale and pace required for this programme. Amendments to regulation, funding mechanisms, planning timescales as well as engineering and regulator cultures will be required to facilitate this.

Well-functioning rivers and catchments prevent inundation and overburdening of water systems, damage to energy and transport systems, as well as all the additional benefits for social and community wellbeing, wildlife and biodiversity – this needs to be embedded and inherent in these strategies like words through a stick of rock, not just pasted on at the end.

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive