Celebrating three years of strategic partnership in the UK
Since 2021, WWF and Aviva have been working together to restore UK landscapes, build healthier more resilient communities and help transform one of the biggest indirect drivers of climate change: the UK finance sector.
Over three years, we’ve worked with nature to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises, helped to change political policy and public opinion, and connected tens of thousands of people to the natural world across the country through community volunteering, local engagement and events, and educational opportunities.
57,000+
trees planted in the Ingleborough National Nature Reserve, Yorkshire
2,555
volunteering hours given by Aviva colleagues across WWF-UK's landscape projects
5
joint policy papers published to influence UK government on climate and nature
£2.6 million
raised for nature by local community groups
About our partnership
The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. With nature in freefall and communities at risk of climate change events, WWF and Aviva have been working together to tackle climate change to build a more sustainable future.
Aviva is WWF’s lead partner in the insurance and pensions sector. Together we have been making a difference in three areas:
1. Building climate resilient communities and restoring nature
We’re living through a climate and nature emergency, seeing extreme weather events across the globe due to climate change. Together, we've developed projects that work with nature to help reduce the effects of extreme weather, particularly flooding, on communities in the UK and Canada.
2. Encouraging action by engaging people
We've been engaging people across Aviva's core markets in the UK and Canada, inspiring and empowering local communities, individuals, employees, and financial institutions to better understand the power of their individual choices and help them take action for our planet and create a world where people and nature thrive together. To date, Aviva colleagues in the UK have volunteered over 3,000 hours on our partnership projects.*
* 3,024 hours volunteered between July 2022 and March 2024. Hours recorded by local delivery partners.
3. Transforming the finance sector
Financial institutions have a vital role to play in the transition to a sustainable future, and together with Aviva, we have been striving for a transformational shift in the sector to help slow climate change – a shift without which the UK will not be able to meet its net zero target. We have also made joint calls on the UK government to ensure they deliver on their climate and nature commitments and push for even greater and faster ambition.
Our impact
Working together lets us make a bigger difference. Here are some of the examples of activity underway.
Building climate resilient communities and restoring nature:
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© Andrew Parkinson / WWF-UKMore Wild Ingleborough
Restoring peatlands, woodland and heathland as part of the Wild Ingleborough project in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
- 57,737 trees planted to connect areas of woodland.
- 10,000 plugs of sphagnum moss planted to shield the land from floods (sphagnum moss can hold 20 times its own weight in water).
- 360.6 hectares of land and woodland under restoration, conserving critical habitats for iconic wildlife like black grouse and curlew, and protecting against flooding.
- 3000+ direct beneficiaries engaged with through our Aviva-funded Engagement Officer, offering volunteering opportunities and sharing knowledge on nature with groups, schools and colleges.
- 9 natural flood management interventions installed.
- 7,074 community volunteering hours delivered.
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© Steve Morgan / WWF-UKMore Firth of Forth
Restoring seagrass meadows and native oyster beds in the Firth of Forth in Scotland.
Working closely with local communities and raising awareness of the benefits of marine restoration to bring the heritage of the coastal communities back to life.
- 8 million+ social media impressions for Restoration Forth content.
- Supported the planting of 156,000 seagrass plants across 2.27 hectares of new meadows.
- helped reintroduce 29,600 native oysters to the Firth of Forth.
- Supported 11,000+ community engagements.
- 5,375 direct beneficiaries learning skills, sharing knowledge and building relationships.
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© Jiri Rezac / WWF-UKMore East Anglia
Restoring the natural flow of rivers in East Anglia to reduce flooding within a number of catchments through natural flood management, building physical and community resilience in this unique, largely agricultural landscape.
- 35 community volunteer days attended by 155 volunteers, 1,085 hours delivered.
- 139 school pupils reached via direct engagement.
- 2,485 Aviva volunteering hours delivered.
- 24 events held on nature recovery, river heath, natural flood management, and health benefits.
- 885.9 million litres - more than 350 Olympic swimming pools - of water replenished in the landscape.
- 13 natural flood management interventions installed across four locations, impacting three villages.
- 550 farmers and landowners indirectly reached via events and comms.
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© Joseph Gray / WWF-UKMore River Soar
Restoring the natural flow of rivers in the East Midlands. Funding innovative natural flood-management initiatives that will create multiple benefits for nature, while building greater climate resilience within the wider community.
- 143 natural flood management interventions installed.
- Estimated 1,130 homes benefitting from increased flood resilience thanks to natural flood measure.
- Impact report on barriers to natural flood management created to support advocacy for policy change with UK goverment.
- 15,000+ people indirectly engaged via surveys, social media and communications campaigns.
- Local Flood Aware campaign launched, with trolley token produced, including dedicated website and social media promotion.
- 84% of local survey respondents feel that they have greater awareness and understanding about flood risk and natural flood management as a result of the project.
- Comprehensive strategic framework created to guide further activities across catchment.
- 4,759 people directly engaged via project events.
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© Andrew Parkinson / WWF-UKMore Saltmarsh Research Project Lancashire (UK)
This research - carried out in partnership with Aviva, and in collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) - represents a significant step in addressing critical knowledge gaps in saltmarsh management. The project will also monitor the role these important habitats can play in fighting climate change and removing carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
Find out more -
© Kevin Lamb / WWF-CanadaMore Nature and Climate Grant Programme (Canada)
Aviva Canada is investing over $2million over three years in WWF-Canada's Nature and Climate Grant program, to help local groups and Indigenous organisations restore degraded lands and shorelines in order to improve habitats and capture carbon.
Read more here
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Encouraging action by engaging people:
The Save Our Wild Isles Community Fund
WWF, Aviva and the RSPB came together to launch the Save Our Wild Isles Community Fund, to make it easier for communities to take action for UK nature in their local area. From the Scottish Highlands, right down to the Cornish Riviera, nearly 250 groups took part, collectively raising over £2.5million, from over 12,000 supporters, to help bring UK nature back to life.
Access to Nature Fund
WWF, Aviva and Norfolk Rivers Trust, are giving £50,000 to help community groups in Norfolk connect with nature. If you’re a community group experiencing challenges in accessing nature, apply today.
Transforming the finance sector:
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© Getty Images / Artur Debat / WWF-USMore National Nature-positive pathways to guide policy and private sec…
In our October 2024 joint report – National Nature-positive pathways to guide policy and private sector action, WWF-UK and our partner Aviva outline the case for the development of government-endorsed nature-positive sectoral pathways, so that the private sector and the Government can tackle the nature emergency together.
Read the report -
© WWF-UKMore Unlocking finance for nature: learning from experience in driving…
Our fourth policy paper, released December 2022, outlines a seven-step pathway to support governments internationally to mobilise the private finance required to tackle the nature crisis.
Read more -
© WWF-UKMore A UK Net Zero Investment Plan for Green Growth
Our third paper, released in October 2022, called for a net-zero investment plan, to catalyse private finance to deliver green growth in the UK and deliver wider benefits such as improved energy security and alleviating the rising cost of living.
Read more -
© WWF-UKMore Aligning the Financial System to Net-Zero
In May 2022, we released a second paper setting out future steps we believe the UK Government should take to embed and accelerate the net-zero transition, supported by the financial sector. It spans policy on private sector transition plans, a transitioning planning approach in government, and the integration of nature.
Read more -
© WWF-UKMore Transition plans for a net zero future
June 2021 saw the power of our partnership. Together we successfully called on the UK Government to introduce mandatory net-zero transitions plans for financial institutions, including through our first position paper, which the government then announced at COP26.
Read more
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Take Action
If you’ve been inspired to take action for nature, here are a few things you could do;
- Volunteer at one of our Aviva funded UK nature restoration projects:
- If you’re a community group looking for funding for a project focused on climate action, explore the Aviva Community Fund
- Share our latest business films to get a conversation on nature started in your department, organisation or industry group.
- Find out more ways you can help bring our world back to life.
Why we’re working together
The UK finance sector is one of the UK's biggest indirect drivers of climate change. Financial institutions have a vital role to play in the transition to a sustainable future, and together, we are striving for a transformational shift in the sector to help slow climate change - a shift without which the UK will not be able to meet its net-zero target.
As the UK’s leading insurer, Aviva is already a climate leader in the finance sector. In 2021, Aviva became the first major insurer worldwide to target net zero carbon by 2040. Together we have the reach and influence to help reimagine and start to reorient the way financial services function in a sustainable economy.
Hear from our CEOs
“Nature is disappearing and global temperatures continue to rise - together, these twin crises put us on the brink of changes to ecosystems that could affect worldwide weather patterns and food production. But it’s not too late to bring our world back to life.
“Our partnership with Aviva has shown that when the finance and environment sectors unite, we can create lasting change. Over the past three years in the UK and Canada, we’ve restored vital landscapes, empowered communities and increased their resilience to climate change and influenced policies to support a thriving planet for generations to come.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished and the legacy our work will leave. By working together, we can make a real difference.” - Tanya Steele, CEO at WWF-UK
“Through our partnership with WWF, we’ve accomplished an enormous amount in our efforts to protect and restore nature. From supporting flood management projects through to launching new sector guidance on nature transition plans and engaging with government and businesses, we hope our work will have an impact for years to come. And it’s heartening to see a growing understanding across business of the important role nature can play in reaching net zero and more companies taking action." - Amanda Blanc CEO at Aviva
