We help rural and urban landowners to adopt regenerative land management (RLM) and gain its environmental, economic and social benefits. As the world responds to the climate and biodiversity emergencies, there are opportunities for better land management to drive positive change. RLM doesn’t just unlock increased value for the landowner, it also enhances the environment, delivers health benefits, and supports sustainable economic growth. 

We work with clients in many different sectors – from developers to utility companies, private commercial landowners to linear infrastructure operators. In each context we begin from the client’s unique position. We begin with a thorough audit that explores what a regenerative approach could mean for the land’s future uses and purposes, ensuring resilience to environmental shocks and stresses resulting from climate change and biodiversity loss, improving social connectivity and protecting your business from economic risk.

Respond to environmental/economic trends

Regenerative agriculture or alternative land uses such as rewilding help address carbon reduction goals, alongside providing benefits to biodiversity, good air, soil and water quality.

Respond to environmental/economic trends

Regenerative agriculture or alternative land uses such as rewilding, tree planting and delivering ‘public goods’ for society help address carbon reduction goals, alongside providing benefits to biodiversity, good air, soil and water quality.

As more investors are looking at their exposure to Environmental Social Governance (ESG) issues in all aspects of their investments, ensuring land practices are sustainable can help to ensure that land use is aligned to any current or future investors values.

RLM involves rethinking the role land might play. This can unlock funding for change of land use or land use practices that produce more sustainable outcomes. For example, payments for actions landowners may take to manage their land in a more environmentally friendly way, or actions that help to deliver local environmental priorities. Increased funding is being made available globally to incentivise this change towards more sustainable resource use.

Additionally, the ESG agenda is becoming increasingly important to external stakeholders, investors, and shareholders. We help organisations and investors to navigate this changing financial landscape, to achieve more sustainable outcomes using a combination of technical expertise and advisory insight.

Find out more about our ESG service

Meet reporting requirements

Our analysts combine publicly available resources with the use of our own tools, to provide deep insights into clients’ land and its potential.

Meet reporting requirements

In certain regions like the UK, Australia and Europe, planning legislation increasingly requires evidence of how any proposed scheme will protect existing biodiversity and nature, often now requiring a net-positive impact on nature (‘biodiversity net gain’). 

In many countries, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)-aligned disclosures are becoming fully mandatory. Building upon the TCFD, the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is now producing a risk management and disclosure framework to promote worldwide consistency for nature-related reporting. The adoption of these frameworks enables consumers to determine whether their assets are managed according to their sustainability preferences and enable them to navigate the investment products available to them. 

Many countries are now establishing green taxonomies against which companies must disclose their performance, alongside reporting on a firm’s impact on the environment. We can help clients to prepare for these new reporting and regulatory requirements. We can also provide practical pathways to increase the sustainable use of land to attract investment, and to minimise the financial risks climate change poses to businesses through RLM.

Gain and trade carbon/biodiversity credits

For all landowners, mapping land and understanding its natural capital is a first step that can inform a strategic approach and drive habitat creation and enhancement. There is potential for this to produce tradable assets, such as biodiversity units or carbon credits. We ensure that clients are well positioned for the emergence of future markets that are being set up internationally. 

Our analysts combine publicly available resources with the use of our own tools, to provide deep insights into clients’ land and its potential. The regenerative practices we recommend can then generate both an increase in the value of an estate and generate new income.

Sequester CO2 emissions naturally

We help landowners to adopt more sustainable solutions to a wide range of different challenges.

Sequester CO2 emissions naturally

Once businesses have made a net zero commitment, the process moves quickly to ‘how?’

COP26 highlighted the importance of utilising natural solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. RLM enables highly effective carbon management through soil and vegetation-based sequestration of CO2, including the improvement of agricultural practices, the restoration of ecosystems including wetlands, and vegetation planting.

Furthermore, research indicates that soil can sequester 40% of global carbon emissions. Arup can develop a plan to most effectively use land to sequester carbon, structuring this work so that the credit and recognition for these changes in practice are associated with the landowner. 

RLM – a nature-based solution

RLM is a nature-based way to restore or repair damaged habitats or ecosystems. Nature-based solutions are a range of practices that will increase biodiversity, improve water and air quality, reduce flood risk, protect endangered species, improve soil health and provide other benefits. 

We help landowners to adopt these more sustainable solutions to a wide range of different challenges. For example, flooding is a growing risk, fuelled by climate change-powered extreme weather and overdevelopment of the built environment. Natural flood management through integrated water catchment management is a cost-effective way to lower flood risk, improve water quality, provide landscape restoration, sequester carbon, and improve air quality.

Find out more about our nature-based solutions expertise