{"id":85424,"date":"2026-03-31T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=news&#038;p=85424"},"modified":"2026-04-01T16:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:54:10","slug":"nature-as-critical-infrastructure-redesigning-how-the-uk-invests-in-what-it-depends-on","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/nature-as-critical-infrastructure-redesigning-how-the-uk-invests-in-what-it-depends-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature as critical infrastructure: redesigning how the UK invests in what it depends on"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<?xml encoding=\"UTF-8\"><p>While the UK&rsquo;s biodiversity frameworks are world-leading, their outcomes are not. New evidence shows that the country is on track to meet just three of its 23 national biodiversity targets, and cases like the contamination of Lough Neagh show the reality of environmental damage. This lacklustre performance is due not to a deficit of ambition but to a fundamental misdiagnosis &ndash; and correcting it requires treating nature as what it is: critical economic infrastructure, argues Nicola Ranger in this commentary for Earth Capital Nexus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><a class=\"link link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/earthcapitalnexus.org\/commentary\/nature-as-critical-infrastructure-redesigning-how-the-uk-invests-in-what-it-depends-on\/\" aria-describedby=\"link-description-new-window\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">External link to commentary&#65279;<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" role=\"img\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M14.42 1.04L3.2.7a.8.8 0 00-.8.76v.1a.8.8 0 00.76.7l9.39.3L.93 14.16c-.3.3-.3.8 0 1.1l.09.08c.3.23.73.2 1.01-.07L13.65 3.65l.29 9.4a.8.8 0 00.8.76.79.79 0 00.77-.8L15.17 1.8a.82.82 0 00-.75-.76z\" fill=\"#2e3152\"><\/path><\/svg><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<?xml encoding=\"UTF-8\"><p>This commentary for Earth Capital Nexus argues the UK&rsquo;s lacklustre performance in meeting its national biodiversity targets is due not to a deficit of ambition but to a fundamental misdiagnosis &ndash; and correcting it requires treating nature as critical economic infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":85425,"template":"","tags":[394,5200,5202,5201,4494,437],"news-category":[16],"topic_area":[4689,4687,4699],"class_list":["post-85424","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-biodiversity","tag-kunming-montreal-global-biodiversity-framework","tag-nature-as-critical-infrastructure","tag-nature-finance","tag-nature-related-risks","tag-uk","news-category-20-commentary","topic_area-financing-a-better-future","topic_area-protecting-the-environment","topic_area-biodiversity"],"acf":{"exclude_from_sync":{"ref_value":"field_560538b0e7350","value":"0","type":false,"post_type":""},"show_translations_widget":{"ref_value":"field_6203d588c41e8","value":"0","type":false,"post_type":""},"downloads":{"ref_value":"field_52f16cc1a80f2","value":false,"type":"repeater","post_type":""},"rss_newsletter":{"ref_value":"field_54f5c2c1544d8","value":"","type":false,"post_type":""},"profile_link":{"ref_value":"field_52f164b5189e9","value":["nicola-ranger"],"type":"relationship","post_type":"profile"},"article_link":{"ref_value":"field_52eee3c7f0586","value":"","type":false,"post_type":""},"article_link_title":{"ref_value":"field_5322399d89d42","value":"","type":false,"post_type":""},"spotlight":{"ref_value":"field_52f80896506d3","value":"","type":false,"post_type":""}},"yoast_head":"<!-- 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