Foresight Group (“Foresight”), a leading sustainable infrastructure and private equity investment manager, is pleased to announce the Eden Project (“Eden”) as its new sustainability partner. Eden will advise Foresight on enhancing biodiversity across its portfolio with an initial focus on its infrastructure and forestry assets.
The partnership will provide Foresight with a framework for implementing a nature recovery programme and will enable Foresight to further develop its nature recovery statement – anticipated to be released later this year. This will provide a blueprint for Foresight’s assets and will demonstrate how businesses can contribute to nature recovery efforts.
The UK is considered to be one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and the UK Government has set an ambitious 25-year environmental plan. The Nature Recovery Network (“NRN”) is a major commitment in this plan and will result in a national network of wildlife-rich places. This includes a commitment to restore 500,000 hectares of additional wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites. Foresight’s partnership with the Eden Project aligns with this environmental plan.
The partnership will also engage the public in nature recovery efforts. Foresight already provides local communities with access to green space within its assets for open days, trails and educational opportunities. Foresight plans to build on this, the first step being the launch of the Foresight Seed Bank. Housed at the Eden Project’s National Wildflower Centre, this will be built up from seeds collected across Foresight’s UK sites. The seeds will be planted across Foresight’s sites and will also be shared with community groups as part of the partnership’s engagement and education around nature recovery.
This partnership provides further evidence of Foresight’s commitment to natural capital having joined the Natural Capital Alliance in 2021. Here, a select group of investors are mobilising $10 billion towards natural capital themes.
Lily Crompton, Group Sustainability Lead at Foresight, commented: “We are delighted to partner with the Eden Project. Together we will create and restore diverse, wildlife-rich and better-connected habitats. Given that our infrastructure and real assets portfolio is predominantly made up of renewable energy, forestry, and afforestation assets, we have a responsibility to work in collaboration with partners like Eden to positively impact the natural ecosystem. The partnership holds so much potential, and we are currently exploring several opportunities with the Eden Project but first, we will start with nature recovery. We look forward to announcing more as the next steps unfold.”
Dan James, Eden’s Development Director, added: “As the twin climate and ecological crises deepen there is an increasing need to accelerate nature recovery - for our planet, our wildlife and our communities. It is encouraging to see our new sustainability partner Foresight, a leader in sustainable infrastructure, actively engaging to drive nature recovery across its renewable energy, forestry and afforestation sites.
“We hope to inspire UK business to follow Foresight’s lead. We share a deep concern that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries, having only around 50% of its biodiversity left. This is well below the global average of 75% and leaves the nation in the bottom 10% globally in terms of biodiversity preservation. The time for urgent action is now.”
