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TOP STORY

Bank says govt regulations needed to ensure well-functioning voluntary biodiversity credit market

The voluntary market for biodiversity credits is emerging on the back of increased pressure on corporations to report on their impact on nature and set their own targets, but government regulations can help drive demand and ensure a well-functioning market that buyers can trust, according to the Commonwealth Bank.

MARKET

Biodiversity Credit Alliance could serve as nature’s ICVCM on governance, experts say

There is considerable potential for the Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA) to serve a similar function to the cross-stakeholder Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), though a key difference will be that this initiative is not two decades overdue, a panel heard Thursday.

Start-up sells first kelp reforestation credits, eyes registration under leading carbon standards

An Australian start-up has sold its first batch of Kelp Reforestation Credits to a commercial fishing company and has begun the process of developing a carbon credit methodology for kelp reforestation under two well-established carbon offset standards.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Monacan foundation, asset manager launch €100-mln marine protection fund

The Prince Albert II Foundation and Monaco Asset Management have launched a fund that aims to invest €100 million this decade in start-ups seeking to reduce ocean pollution and protect marine ecosystems.

Sustainable investment firm closes €170-mln ocean fund

A London-based sustainable investment provider has closed its Blue Ocean Fund at €170 million, making it the world’s largest VC fund focused on the regeneration of ocean health.

UNEP backs gamers to help green the planet in 2023 event

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has partnered with a technology platform that aims to rally the global gaming industry to join forces to protect nature in a 2023 event focusing on wildlife.

POLICY

Nations announce largest ever freshwater restoration initiative

A group of six African and Latin American nations on Thursday officially launched the Freshwater Challenge, an initiative to restore 300,000 km of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands by the end of the decade.

Green group urges EU to create nature restoration funding mechanism in freshwater biodiversity push

The EU needs a dedicated funding mechanism to help member states prepare and implement their national restoration plans on nature and lead the world on freshwater biodiversity, green group Nature Conservancy urged as global negotiators are gathered for the three-day UN Water Conference in New York.

MARKET

Big deal for peatlands – A province holding three-quarters of the peatland in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has signed a jurisdictional nested REDD+ agreement with a Singapore-headquartered project developer, one of the first deals of its kind. (Carbon Pulse)

Algae action – A carbon credit standard body has approved the first methodology for dealing with harmful algae blooms in freshwater while at the same time sequestering carbon dioxide. (Carbon Pulse)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Better forests – The International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and the Forest Department of Malaysia’s Sarawak state have initiated two projects aimed at improving biodiversity conservation and enhancing local socioeconomic development in the Upper Baram Area in Miri Division. The area covers 283,500 ha, encompassing primary forests, farm areas, settlements, timber concessions and agricultural lands. The total cost of the two projects will be close to $2 mln, with contributions from ITTO, Malaysia, Japan, the Swiss city of Basel, and Bruno Maser Funds. (Malay Mail)

Cancelled – PepsiCo is among the latest consumer goods companies to ban palm oil from Indonesia-based conglomerate Astra Agro Lestari in its supply chain. AAL, which owns palm oil plantations in Indonesia, was accused last year of human rights abuses and land grabbing. In an open letter, the International Federation for Human Rights asked several major consumer goods companies, including PepsiCo, to cut AAL from their supply chains over its “sustained role in forcibly grabbing communities’ land, contributing to environmental destruction, negatively impacting communities’ livelihoods, and criminalising land and environmental human rights defenders.” Other companies addressed in the letter include Hershey’s, Kellogg, Unilever, Nestle, and Procter & Gamble. (Supply Chain Dive)

Protected Guyana – Guyana’s Protected Areas Commission (PAC) and the Iwokrama International Centre have inked a new MoU to improve their management of Guyana’s protected areas. According to a release issued by the PAC, the MoU, which takes the form of a Technical Assistance Agreement (TAA), will allow both organisations to deepen technical cooperation in protected area management, biodiversity conservation and climate change. The PAC and Iwokrama will support each other in several areas including research, capacity development, education and awareness, creating and managing bio-inventories and fundraising activities through the MoU, the release said. (Newsroom)

POLICY

Plan of the people – Nature should be included in all public decision-making and its recovery should be prioritised in farming, a new citizens’ assembly has concluded. Dubbed the People’s Plan for Nature, the recommendations were made after a citizens’ assembly was held involving 100 people from around the UK and following 30,000 responses to an open call asking what people love about nature and how it might change in future. Over several months, the 100 participants reviewed evidence on the state of nature in the UK and thought of ways to reverse its decline. (PA)

SCIENCE & TECH

Unfathomable – Millions of fish have died in another mass kill in the lower Darling-Baaka river near Menindee, in New South Wales, Australia. Photos supplied by Menindee residents show dead fish – mostly bony bream, but also Murray cod, golden perch, silver perch and carp – blanketed across the river’s surface. It is the latest in a series of large-scale fish deaths that have prompted questions about the management of water levels in the Murray-Darling Basin. Menindee residents said the latest fish kill appeared larger than previous mass deaths. About a million fish died during a sustained drought in the same area in 2019 after a rapid drop in temperature led to an algal bloom de-oxygenating the river. (Guardian)

Mountain misery – A WCS-coauthored study reveals that global mountain forests – critically important to wildlife – are vanishing at an accelerating rate with an area twice the size of Norway lost between 2001-2018. The new study, published in One Earth, is led by Southern University of Science and Technology and co-authored by scientists at the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Leeds, Mae Jo University, and the University of Hong Kong. The results showed that 78.1 mln hectares (301,545 square miles) of mountain forest was lost between 2001-18 worldwide with rates nearly doubling after 2010, showing a sharp acceleration and pointing to a potentially increased risk of mountain forest loss in the future. (Wildlife Conservation Society)

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