What is Green Finance?
Delivering the Blueprint for the Culm is a complex and expensive task. It involves landowners, communities, statutory bodies, technical specialists, ecologists, construction companies and funders all working together over a long period.
We have developed a financial model to forecast the costs of delivering the Blueprint and this show that, over the next 20 years, the cost will amount to £36m at today’s prices. Of this sum, we estimate that £15m could be provided from public funding, mainly through agri-environment schemes that pay landowners to install nature-based solutions on their land. The balance of £21m is expected to come from private (green) finance.
Green Finance is the name given to funding that comes from contracts with buyers of ecosystem services (who could for example pay for the benefits they receive such as reduced flood risk or improved biodiversity) and / or investors, who want to put capital into a project that delivers nature benefits as well as giving them a return on their money.
To help channel these green finance funds we have set up a new entity: the Connecting the Culm CIC (CtCCIC). This is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, established in 2025, that aims to:
- Secure environmental improvements to land in the catchment of the River Culm in Devon and Somerset that deliver some or all of the following: nature recovery; flood and drought resilience; and improved public access to nature
- Raise awareness of the environment and improve people’s connection to the river and its surroundings.
It is designed to complement the role of the Blackdown Hills National Landscape (which is hosted by Devon County Council). As a limited company the CtCCIC is able to carry out some functions that are more difficult for the BHNL to take on, given its statutory purpose and local authority host. These include:
- entering into long-term private finance arrangements, that are typically involved in green finance deals
- holding funds and applying these to monitor and verify the delivery of ecosystem services over the long term
- leasing or even purchasing land where this could support the goals of Connecting the Culm
- raising funds from grant-making trusts and other philanthropic sources
The Directors of the CtCCIC are:
- Dominic Acland
- Lucy Jefferson
- Tim Youngs
To find out more please contact the CtCCIC at: greenfinance@connectingtheculm.com
