Innovative finance for urban trees

The primary purpose of this brief is to commission a suitably qualified consultant to deliver an options appraisal for new innovative finance products for urban trees and create a flow chart to help local authorities and others quickly identify what type of green finance might be most suitable for the type of urban forest they have, or wat to develop. More detail of the specific objectives of this work and the deliverables required is set out below:

I. Discovery, development and design of new innovative finance opportunities for urban trees and forests based on delivery of environmental, social and economic outcomes. a. The focus for this work should be on identifying/designing funding models for urban tree planting which isn't viable for established natural capital markets (e.g. carbon, BNG), which could be structured around contributing to: i. Reducing air pollution ii. Workplace recruitment/retention iii. Reducing urban heat islands iv. NFM and SUDs v. Social prescribing

b. Responding to identified gaps in the market and evidenced outcomes, the successful consultants are required to undertake an initial options appraisal of innovative funding models for urban trees and woods.

c. The consultants will then seek to develop one of those ideas further, building the business case for that new product or approach. This would include undertaking the following core tasks: i. Design of business models ii. Stakeholder engagement to assess willingness to pay and prices iii. Financial modelling iv. Investment case where modelling illustrates viability v. High level recommendations on legal and operational models, where investment case is promising. d. As this is a developing and rapidly changing sector, the work will need to consider local and national projects, context and policy. For example, initiatives such as West Midlands Combined Authority's Local Investment in Natural Capital programme could have an impact on the feasibility of potential models in Birmingham. Such initiatives should therefore be considered an analysing opportunities for innovative finance models.

II. Development of Green Finance Flow Chart

Developing a simple Urban Forest Green Finance Flow Chart to help local authorities and others quickly identify what type of green finance might be most suitable for the type of urban forest they have in their area. For example it should quickly and easily help to identify the main sources of innovative finance for e.g. new trees, planted in a woodland-setting in peri urban locations.

Tenders should not exceed 10 pages in length and will be assessed against a range of weighted criteria, outlined below:

Criteria Quality - 30% Methodology - 30% Value for money - 20% Past experience - 10% Social impact - 10%

Please submit proposals by email before the deadline of 12:00 noon on 25 August, to the following contact:

David Coughlin [email protected] 07929 668146