The Scottish Government has made scaling up woodland expansion and peatland restoration central pillars of its net zero strategy. But despite making commendable commitments, the pace and scale of action remain far too slow. Woodland creation targets have been consistently missed, and peatland restoration efforts are significantly behind schedule.

Given the shortfall of investment and strained public finances, in recent years the Scottish Government has taken steps to more attract private finance into nature restoration. Scotland is not alone: governments across the world have taken steps to attract private finance into nature projects. While relying less on public money and more on private investment may seem appealing, achieving this poses a number of key challenges. As a public good with low financial returns and large externalities, nature does not easily align with the expectations and demands of private finance.

Future Economy Scotland’s recent report, 'Restoring Nature to Deliver a Just Transition to Net Zero', examines these challenges in detail, and calls into question whether private finance really can mobilise investment in nature on the scale needed.

On 25th November 2025, Future Economy Scotland’s Co-Director Laurie Macfarlane and Senior Economist Hanna Wheatley hosted a webinar to present the report’s key findings and recommendations, followed by an audience Q+A. 

The full webinar can be watched here: