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TOP STORY

EU political groups face major discussions ahead of nature law vote next week

European lawmakers have just days to come to a decision on nature protection measures, with a vote due at next week’s plenary session on a law to restore at least 20% of the bloc’s sea and land areas by 2030.

MARKET

Verra ready to pilot biodiversity methodology

Carbon standard Verra on Wednesday issued a call for projects to pilot its long-awaited SD VISta Nature Framework and biodiversity methodology ahead of a public consultation process expected to launch in September.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

INTERVIEW: The emergent forum helping British firms to integrate biodiversity into business models

A forum established to aid British companies to better understand their impact on nature and biodiversity expects 2023 to be a pivotal year for the organisation, a senior member told Carbon Pulse, as it aims to ramp up both membership with a focus on informing firms in the country about upcoming ‘net gain’ legislation, the opportunities around crediting outcomes, and dealing with global nature disclosure rules.

Global biodiversity fund ready for August launch after GEF reaches agreement

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council has reached an agreement on the design of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), leaving everything set for the fund to be formally launched at the GEF Assembly in Canada in August.

British association launches ‘nature positive’ guidance for insurers

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has launched guidance to help insurers and long-term savings providers become ‘nature positive’ in helping tackle the decline in the UK’s nature and biodiversity.

POLICY

Australia’s nature repair market bill risks delay amid scrutiny

The parliamentary committee scrutinising Australia’s nature repair market (NRM) legislation has had its reporting date extended indefinitely, potentially delaying the passage of the bill in the Senate.

MPAs are increasing in Cambodia, but exhaustive list of issues must be addressed, World Bank reports says

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are receiving increasing attention in Cambodia to safeguard marine biodiversity, according to a new World Bank report, however wider governance, corruption, and capacity building issues must be addressed to begin adequately protect the country’s blue economy.

UK lawmakers publishes report on marine mammal protection

A report from a British parliamentary environment committee on protecting marine mammals published this week calls for new comprehensive and precautionary actions to protect species.

MARKET

Watchful – The Ecosystems Restoration Standard – a new carbon standard with biodiversity co-benefits set to launch in September – has published a summary of the comments it received during a public consultation process held earlier this year. Among the changes it will implement is to calculate biodiversity benefits based more on ecosystem assessments and habitat capacity than individual species. The ERS noted that while it remains a carbon standard for the time being, it is keeping a close eye on developments in voluntary biodiversity market to integrate best practices. (Carbon Pulse)

Black market warning – The executive director of Liberia’s EPA has warned Liberians not to engage with companies that are illegally coming into the country “under the disguise of different institutions and names” with the intention of securing offtake deals for carbon credits generated from Liberian forests. The EPA boss stressed that the government is working with selected partners to promote the country’s carbon projects, and that if any organisation want to get involved they should contact the nation’s designated national authority. (Carbon Pulse)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Pledge – Food producer Kraft Heinz has released a deforestation and conversion free policy pledge, committing to eliminate deforestation and ecosystem conversion from its supply chain. The policy includes long-term protection and remediation where necessary for priority raw materials including palm oil, sugar, beef, dairy, cocoa, coffee, pulp, paper, and packaging.

Chipping in – Colombian NGO Fundacion Proyecto Titi is planning to purchase an additional 386 ha (954 acres) with the help of Silicon Valley-based ReWorld, an NGO that has committed to raising $1.2 mln by October to support the organisation to expand its reforestation programme to protect the critically endangered cotton-top tamarin and its tropical dry forest habitat in northwestern Colombia. ReWorld has raised 25% of the amount needed to purchase the new land through its online fundraising platform, which allows donors to visualise the future preserve and donate money toward specific parcels of land. (Mongabay)

Joining in – UK renewable energy firm SSE Renewables announced it has joined OCEaN, a coalition of European NGOs, offshore wind developers, and transmission system operators (TSOs), which are collaborating to ensure that the deployment of offshore wind is balanced with the need to protect and enhance marine ecosystems including improving collaboration with other spatial uses of the sea and with climate, nature protection, and restoration goals.

Buoyance – Danish renewable energy company Orsted and charity Ocean Conservation Trust have launched the Blue Meadows marker buoy initiative. By putting in place buoys around seagrass meadows, the initiative is meant to make it easier for swimmers, fishers, and others to avoid causing damage to the meadows. It also aims to raise awareness of the importance of seagrass.

POLICY

Falling behind – The Court of Justice of the European Union has handed down its judgment in the case brought against Ireland by the European Commission with support from the German government. The case concerns the implementation of the Habitats Directive, transposed into Irish law through the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011. In the ruling, the CJEU declared that Ireland had breached the directive by failing to designate 217 of 423 sites in the Atlantic biogeographical region identified by the European Commission as special areas of conservation within at least six years of the law coming into force. (Irish Legal News)

Growing – The OSPAR Commission, which manages marine protected areas (MPAs) in the North-East Atlantic, has expanded its biggest MPA – the 600,000 sq. km North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Sea basin – to also include the sea floor, it has announced. The expansion brings a number of additional species under protection, such as coral gardens and deep-sea sharks. It also comes at a time when the Norwegian government has announced it intends to open a vast area of its continental shelf in the region to deep seabed mining.

Getting started – The first designated Highly Protected Marine Areas came into effect in the UK this week, providing protection for marine species and habitats such as honeycomb worm reefs, northern gannets, and harbour porpoises, the government announced. The areas will also contribute towards the UK meeting it 30% protection targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Walk in the park – The Global Conservation Fund will allocate a $200,000 grant for the development of Racha National Park. The grant agreement was signed between the Protected Areas Agency of Georgia and the Foundation Global Conservation, reports Georgia Online. The deal envisages the implementation of appropriate initiatives for the preservation of the biodiversity of Racha National Park. At the same time, it seeks the implementation of the park protection system and the equipping of rangers with the necessary technologies, which will further ensure the effective implementation of patrols and the operative prevention of poaching.

SCIENCE & TECH

Urgent – Israeli scientists are calling for urgent action after it was discovered that a deadly epidemic has decimated the black sea urchin population in the Gulf of Eilat and the Mediterranean Sea in just a matter of months. In a series of disturbing studies from Tel Aviv University, published in Frontiers in Marine Science and Royal Society Open Science, it was revealed that within two months the entire population of black sea urchins – Diadema setosum — has been wiped out in Eilat. The same is happening at other sites in the gulf, including off the coast of Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Greece and Turkey are also affected. Researchers say the die-off, which may have been caused by the pathogenic ciliate parasite, is likely to have a devastating impact on the coral reefs as sea urchins, and particularly the Diadema setosum, are vital for maintaining the ecosystem of the reef. (Israel21C)

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