“Farming and nature can and must go hand in hand – this is essential to support resilient food production. Through our new environmental land management schemes, we pay farmers to take actions that are good for the farm, good for food production and good for the environment. We are backing British farmers and rural communities by maintaining the £2.4 billion annual farming budget as we transition to these schemes and will continue to work with farmers and partners across the private sector to support investment in nature-friendly and productive farm businesses.”

"The Taskforce recommendations set out how a combination of catalytic capital, deployed in partnership with a government delivering policy certainty, can make the UK the destination of choice for global investment. The National Wealth Fund will reshape the way we approach public, private risk-sharing, providing private investors with the confidence needed to fund the technologies and infrastructure needed to drive growth and create new jobs across the UK."

“Farmers have always been the custodians of the countryside, but often delivery of environmental goods have been seen as beneficial extras to food production. Today, however, we are seeing a change that we believe will, in time, place these environmental outputs on an almost equal financial footing with the other farming products. This opportunity can only be unlocked through transparency in standards, data, monitoring and reporting as outlined in this report. Delivery of multiple outcomes has the potential to enable an exciting future for UK agriculture, but only if farmers, financiers, supply chain partners and politicians work together to embrace the opportunities.”

“The opportunity to contribute to an improving environment as the foundation to a suite of new and sustainable income sources for farmers is, in my view, a very wholesome and encouraging position at a time of such economic uncertainty.”

“Farmers are the key to making our food systems net zero and nature positive and it is critical that we are focused on their needs and those of the local community as we mobilise finance to support a transition to more nature-friendly farming.”

“We welcome this important report, Financing the Farming Transition, and the cross-sector leadership that GFI has convened to produce it. It is clear that aligning finance to accelerate the farming transition is an urgent priority. Currently farm-level financial considerations are fraught with risk, and farmers are rightly weighing up their options with care. This report identifies clear challenges to develop a trusted system that pays farmers properly for the work they do – to restore and enhance nature, improve air and water quality, plant trees and hedges, sequester carbon and regenerate the landscapes that produce enough of the healthy food we need. It’s time to tackle the critical questions and recommendations in Financing the Farming Transition.”

“The role of green finance in driving positive change for farming and nature has never been more pressing. Land App is delighted to have contributed towards meaningfully baselining biodiversity, assessing the potential for landscape recovery and providing the digital means for farmers and land managers to access funding for aiding nature recovery. We look forward to continuing to provide the digital platform to enable this critical sector-wide transition.”

“The framework set out today provides a clear roadmap of how private finance and government can best work together to make the most difference to UK farmers as they transition to net zero. At Lloyds Bank, we acutely understand the challenges and barriers faced by farmers and we are proud to be part of an initiative which hopes to drive real change across the sector.”

“It’s crucial that industries and the Government unite in deciding a way forward to secure the UK’s food security. We’re fully supportive of collaboration as we’re keen to help farmers however we can. Our agricultural managers have in-depth knowledge of the sector, including being able to offer individual financial support, where needed, to help our customers navigate high energy, feed and fertiliser prices. We’ll continue playing our part to help farmers during this challenging time, including transitioning to becoming more sustainable, but we know that it’s only through reaching a consensus with other stakeholders that we’ll be able to deliver a more secure farming future for the UK.”

“As the UK’s only bank 100% dedicated to the food and agricultural sector, Oxbury recognises the challenges faced by farmers to transition to a lower emissions and nature positive economy while maintaining access to food security. This report underlines the need for supply-chain focused partnerships including government, financial services companies such as Oxbury, food processors and retailers to support farmers to realise the opportunities and manage climate and environmental risks in an uncertain future. Access and availability of high quality information will be a key enabler of such partnerships and further enable banks like Oxbury to provide innovative financial products to support the process.”

“Agriculture is an industry at a crossroads, underpinned by the use of natural resources which are becoming slowly depleted and increasingly impacted by climate change. The climate emergency, increasing population and historic practices combined has led to the need for transition in the way we produce, distribute and consume food and fibre. The situation demands a widespread response from all stakeholders, the timely success of which can only be generated through a coordinated dialogue between the public and private sectors to ensure effective climate positive outcomes. Regenerate, as a natural capital investor, sees that farmers and the wider farming sector are key to achieving the pathway to net zero, and beyond.”

“We all understand the combined challenge of delivering the nation’s food security whilst addressing the demand for environmental improvement through enhancement of our natural capital. Alongside existing public funding, a well-regulated and controlled private marketplace will be essential to achieving those goals. The TFA will seek to ensure that as the means to facilitate private finance initiatives become available , that they are fully accessible to tenant farmers. The TFA welcomes the cross reference in the report to the recommendations of the Rock Review on agricultural tenancies, which highlights the need to ensure that tenants are rewarded and not disadvantaged for their work in maintaining and improving natural capital and managing the flow of ecosystem services. Whilst stocks of existing natural capital may be aligned with land ownership, the value of the additionality created through management of the land must rest with farm tenants.”

“This is an important report which shines a light on the barriers the food industry needs help in unblocking to come together and further support British farmers in transitioning to a sustainable food system. At Tesco, we’re already trialling initiatives which can help aid this transition to a low carbon future, including working with our suppliers to roll out the largest trial of low carbon fertilisers in the UK, and supporting all of our UK fruit and veg suppliers to become LEAF Marque certified. But we know we and the rest of the food industry need to do more. The key enablers highlighted in this report, if supported, will play a major role in helping to unlock the potential of additional private finance opportunities for the agri sector, while providing the Governance required to measure the impact of climate and environmental improvement.”