An Italian nature tech firm is poised to release a set of standardised guidelines for a biodiversity framework late this year that will underpin its first certified biodiversity credits in 2025 for the European voluntary market, the company told Carbon Pulse.

Simone Mazzola, COO of 3Bee, said the company is already piloting 150 monitoring initiatives in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the UK, and is about to launch 100 more in the next few weeks.

The 3Bee framework will be designed around the company’s protocol Element-E, backed by EU and verified by certifier Bureau Veritas in late December.

It is based on bioacoustics and remote sensing technologies, and enables companies to monitor and quantify site-level biodiversity improvements, Mazzola told Carbon Pulse on the sidelines of a biodiversity and business event in Milan Tuesday.

In early June, the company will start working with Italian standardisation body UNI to develop its framework, dubbed “Guidelines for biodiversity and biodiversity credits’ enhancement”, with the aim of supporting Italian and European companies in monitoring biodiversity uplifts in their sites.

UNI operates under the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN).

The work will be carried out in partnership with the University of Naples, the University of Turin, Bureau Veritas, research institute CREA, and carbon certifier Climate Standard.

While the voluntary biodiversity market is still in its early stages, investors are increasingly asking for more rigour and standardisation to make them more comfortable with the fledgling units.

“Our goal is to create a framework that all companies in Europe can use to monitor biodiversity progress at their sites,” Mazzola said, adding that he expects the framework to be ready by September.

“We are testing our protocol in infrastructure projects in the urban environment, solar farms, and agricultural sites.”

3Bee’s site-specific approach consists of four main steps:

• Assessment: detailed habitat and biodiversity analysis of the site
• Regeneration: identification of targeted regeneration actions
• Communication: sharing the results through a dedicated website and the Element-E label certifying the use of the protocol
• Monitoring and reporting: preparation of the ESG biodiversity report in accordance with international standards

The company currently delivers both monitoring activities and uplift assessments within their pilots, using their own protocol.

Still, Mazzola said they’re planning to include mandatory third-party verification in their framework for the biodiversity credits mechanism.

BIODIVERSITY CREDITS FOR IN EUROPE

According to the company’s COO, 3Bee is expecting to generate its first certified voluntary biodiversity credits next year under its framework.

“We want to support companies in offsetting their nature impacts within the country they operate through nature restoration projects,” Mazzola said.

Biodiversity offsetting is still a controversial issue in the nascent market. Experts have warned almost unanimously that biodiversity credits should differ from offsets by not implying harm to nature in another location while boosting ecosystems, but the market is not shaped yet.

According to a report released last week by Mallowstreet and asset manager Gresham House, over half of UK investors appear to prefer generating voluntary carbon or biodiversity credits in order to offset the emissions and nature loss in their portfolios.

Units under the 3Bee framework are not yet defined, but according to Mazzola, a credit could be equal to one hectare restored for one year.

“Restoration projects across Europe will be designed to incentivise companies to invest for a longer period, but each credit can be purchased on a one-year base,” he said.

As for the prices, Mazzola stated that they will vary depending on the location of the project, with prices ranging from €2,000-10,000 per unit.

Since biodiversity credits generated under the framework will be outcome-based, the payments will be delivered once outcomes are achieved.

3Bee is also in touch with standards Verra, Cercarbono, and Gold Standard to develop a methodology for the European voluntary biodiversity market based on the Mean Species Abundance (MSA) index, a tool to measure the presence of umbrella species within pollinators in a certain area.

The company’s approach aligns with the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Mazzola said, and ensures compliance with European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards.

As well, 3Bee is open to collaborating with other frameworks, such as the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) and the Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com

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