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TOP STORY

Sowing the seeds: Startup to develop biodiversity credit opportunities for farmers

A Switzerland-based startup is developing a concept that will allow farmers and land stewards to earn biodiversity credits for sustainable agriculture practices such as syntropic farming.

MARKET

INTERVIEW: Biodiversity Credit Alliance expects to release first output by August

The UN-backed Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA) expects to release the first results of its work within the next three months, with a glossary of terms, demand side concepts, and the inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities among the first issues to be tackled by the group.

Biodiversity credit developer raises £600,000 in investments

UK-based biodiversity credit developer rePlanet Wildlife has secured £600,000 in fresh investments to help it roll out its global portfolio of nature protection projects.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Ecuador secures record debt-for-nature swap for the Galapagos

The government of Ecuador has closed the world’s biggest debt-for-nature swap arrangement to date that establishes a $656-million bond linked to conservation of the biodiversity-rich Galapagos Islands.

More than 30 banks join UN initiative on biodiversity targets

More than 30 banks have joined a working group led by the UNEP Finance Initiative (FI) to hash out guidelines for financial institutions to set nature-related targets and align their portfolios with global biodiversity targets.

S&P Global launches nature and biodiversity risk data set

Analysis firm S&P Global Sustainable1 on Wednesday launched a data set analysing nature and biodiversity risk for more than 17,000 companies, as it released research showing 85% of the world’s biggest companies depend significantly on nature for their operations.

POLICY

EU agency affirms science behind Nature Restoration Act in wake of parliamentary ruckus

The European Environment Agency (EEA) published a note on Tuesday outlining the declining trends in biodiversity across the continent and highlighting how restoration will benefit both nature and social objectives, key points in the wake of parliamentary ruckus surrounding the bloc’s proposed Nature Restoration Act.

Australia’s opposition Coalition to support govt’s nature repair market bill

Australia’s main opposition parties in the right-wing Coalition has announced it will support the government’s nature repair market legislation, barring the chance for the Greens and independents in the Senate to leverage their influence to force changes to the proposed bill.

European Commission advisors call for exclusion of biodiversity offsets from taxonomy

A body advising the European Commission on rules as to how the bloc classifies green activities has recommended that biodiversity offsets are not included within the scope of the legislation.

MARKET

Getting the wallet out – The UK has become the latest government to support Brazil’s Amazon Fund, designed to back REDD+ projects that protect the nation’s forests as a key pillar to global action on climate change and biodiversity protection. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Friday that the UK will contribute about $100 mln to the fund, an initiative created in 2008 when current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was serving his second term in office. (Carbon Pulse)

Diving in – South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor has signed an MoU with the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries and Korea Fisheries Resources Agency to tackle sea deforestation by expanding underwater forests in South Korea and to conduct research on carbon offsets from seaweed, including the construction of a quantitative database. Hyundai said it aims to take a leading role on blue carbon activities. (Carbon Pulse)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Testing – Businesses around the world are now beginning to look into the framework recently released by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). In Hong Kong, three companies – Swire Properties, Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas), and Vitasoy International – have taken the lead in pilot testing the framework, which helps firms report on the ecological risks that could impact their businesses, as biodiversity gains importance among investors and countries around the world. Input from Swire Properties will be used to help develop guidelines for the infrastructure and real estate category of the framework, which will also be released by the time the framework is launched in September, said Emily McKenzie, the technical director at the TNFD. (South China Morning Post)

Natcap accounting – BHP has carried out and published the results of a pilot case study on the application of natural capital accounting principles in the mining sector. Based on the closed and rehabilitated Beenup Mineral Sands mine in Western Australia, BHP said it hoped the study could help create a foundation for natural capital accounting both within the company for the millions of hectares of land it owns and manages as well as for the wider global mining industry. The accounting report can be downloaded from here.

Ancient trees – Non-profit group the Nature Trust of British Columbia has purchased 15 ha of ecologically sensitive habitat for C$2 mln ($2.5 mln) along the Little Qualicum River on Canada’s Vancouver Island, protecting the land from logging and development. The habitat is located in the Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone, one of the province’s most vulnerable areas, home to old-growth trees and diverse salmon populations. The purchase was funded by C$1.75 mln in federal grants and C$415,000 from private donors. While the provincial government has stated a commitment towards the “30 by 30” global biodiversity goals, conservation groups had pointed out that nothing in the 2023 budget will help achieve that goal. It points instead to an initiative to help First Nations participate in land-use decisions on old-growth forests, and help forestry companies retool their mills to adapt to second-growth timber. (Globe and Mail)

POLICY

Tuna trouble – The EU’s sustainable fishing funds are intended to save the environment. In the Indian Ocean, critics say they’re being used as leverage to allow Europe’s fishing fleets to keep fishing vast amounts of tuna. EU vessels — most of them French or Spanish — catch up to a third of tuna in those waters, according to data from the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), an international body tasked with managing the fisheries. To do so, they deploy so-called fish aggregating devices — floating objects made of plastic or wood used to attract fish — that scientists say lead to overfishing and cause plastic pollution. Concerned by the EU’s practices, a group of 11 IOTC member countries are calling to limit the use of floating devices to allow fish to recover and ensure the species’ survival. Their proposal calls for a 72-day moratorium on the practice every year, and a limit on how many devices can be used. The EU has launched a campaign to ensure that doesn’t happen. (Politico)

Bottleneck – A new analysis of India’s State Biodiversity Boards has revealed that funds provided to them by state governments and the Centre are hardly being used for their primary purpose of biodiversity conservation. It has also revealed that funds allocated to states remain meagre compared to what they may require to meet their goals as specified under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2002 — conservation and management of biodiversity heritage sites, socio-economic development of areas from where biodiversity is accessed for commercial or other purposes. The analysis by Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), to be released soon, found only 0.44% of the total assistance cumulatively given to eight states (states that responded to LIFE’s RTI queries on how funds are used) in the past two years by National Biodiversity Authority has been allocated for establishing Biodiversity Heritage Sites. (Hindustan Times)

No deal – Australia’s environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has struck off two proposed coal projects in Queensland after the developers failed to submit requested information about impacts on threatened species and water. The two projects are Macmines’ China Stone coalmine in the Galilee basin and Stanmore Resources’ Range Coal project 35 km southeast of Wandoan, in central Queensland. Both projects had stalled after applications were submitted nine years ago by Macmines and 12 years ago by Stanmore Resources. (Guardian)

Going big – A national park bigger in size than Bali and home to hundreds of native species including the critically endangered Night parrot has been created in Western Australia’s remote Goldfields. The 800,000-ha Matuwa Kurrara Kurrara National Park and the Lake Carnegie nature reserve will be jointly managed by Tarlka Matuwa Piarku Aboriginal Corporation and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions. Designed to protect biodiversity and cultural heritage, it will be the largest jointly managed and vested conservation estate ever reached in WA. Matuwa Kurrara Kurrara National Park was purchased as two pastoral leases by the state government more than 20 years ago and features over 480 plant species. (AAP)

Oldies but goldies – In Canada, a B.C. MP has introduced a motion to ban the export of old-growth logs and any products made from them. Patrick Weiler, Liberal MP for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, introduced the private members’ motion last Thursday. The motion calls for an end to the export of old growth as soon as possible but no later than 2030. It also calls on the federal government to end old-growth logging on federal lands outside of reserves, including national parks and land held by the Department of National Defence. “This is really about putting this on the radar to really push the federal government to act on this,” said Weiler in an interview. “There’s probably no more important environmental issue in B.C. than protecting old growth.” (Vancouver Is Awesome)

Prove it – The UK’s Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has launched a call for evidence as part of its scrutiny of the government’s environmental targets for improving nature as represented in its 2023 Environment Improvement Plan for England (EIP23). The body is gathering information from UK government and stakeholders to understand their current analysis of the ways of achieving the environmental targets, and the barriers and enablers to success. Its call for evidence is open until Aug. 7 and asks respondents to focus on the government’s species abundance targets, the degree to which they are achievable, and what barriers face the plan.

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