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TOP STORY

France votes through law to open up space for biodiversity and carbon credit stacking

The French parliament has voted through a green industrial law that is expected to open up ecosystem restoration projects in the country to biodiversity and carbon credit stacking.

MARKET

A voluntary biodiversity market is coming to Australia with or without the nature repair market bill, experts say

Australia can expect to see a voluntary biodiversity market emerge in the not-too-distant future whether the government is successful at passing its nature repair market legislation or not, experts told a conference this week.

Australia lacks the seed supplies, knowledge for nature repair market, experts say

Australian supplies and knowledge of its native seeds are inadequate for the scale and demand necessary for the government’s proposed voluntary biodiversity credit market, according to experts.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Corporate biodiversity guidance to become more sector-specific, granular, say experts

Corporate biodiversity guidance and regulation is expected to eventually move towards a more sector-specific and granular model, a webinar heard Tuesday, given the highly localised nature of impact and mitigation action.

Think-tank releases catalogue of natural capital metrics, methods

Australian think-tank Climateworks Centre on Wednesday released the Natural Capital Measurement Catalogue (NCMC) as a consistent reference source for companies to measure, manage, and report on their natural capital assets.

Companies call for broader use of Mean Species Abundance metric in TNFD framework

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) should make greater use of the Mean Species Abundance (MSA) metric in its framework as it is already used by many companies and would offer a number of benefits, according to a position paper issued by a group of European companies this week.

POLICY

Indian parliament passes controversial biodiversity bill

India’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday passed an amendment to its 2002 biodiversity act amid concerns the bill weakens regulatory oversight and will make it harder for the mega biodiverse country to meet its targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

International regulations miss 40% of species threatened by trade

International rules regulating wildlife trade overlook some 40% of plants and animals at risk from such trade because there is no established methodology to identify them, a study has found.

US EPA releases draft herbicide strategy as part of move to close lag on threatened species work

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released for public comment a draft strategy for herbicide use, outlining actions to protect over 900 listed threatened species and designated critical habitats.

MARKET

Unveiled – The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has published the framework it will use to assess whether carbon credits meet its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) integrity label, work that forges an uncertain path for many REDD projects and raises the bar on transparency. (Carbon Pulse)

Cows and carbon – Soil carbon credit company Grassroots Carbon and international food and beverages leader Nestle on Wednesday announced a partnership to remove carbon from Nestle’s US supply shed. Grassroots Carbon works with ranchers to measure and certify carbon storage and monitor carbon levels in the soil, and recently sold 200,000 removal credits to Microsoft. The agreement will see the measure and certification of further carbon sequestration for a period of 15 years. The investment from Nestle helps cover the cost of implementing regenerative agriculture practices for ranchers. The companies stated that the aim of the partnership is to decarbonise the beef supply chain and positively impact grasslands while also supporting local livelihoods.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Wild thing – In England, a Kent rewilding project will expand after being awarded £100,000. Kent Wildlife Trust will use the money from the charity Rewilding Britain to connect woodland in the Blean, an area home to bison that were introduced last summer. The fund will support 8,300 hectares of rewilding, connecting woodland currently fragmented by agriculture and urban development. (BBC)

What’s cooking – Los Angeles-based venture capital fund Supply Change Capital this week announced it has closed its inaugural $40-mln fund. Over the past two years the company has deployed over $13 mln in early-stage food and agritech companies, with 73% of that focused on positive environmental outcomes related to the atmosphere, soil health, biodiversity, and/or water.

Sticking to it – French oil major TotalEnergies said on Wednesday it had begun commercial drilling this month at its Tilenga petroleum project in Uganda’s west ahead of an expected start of oil production in the east African country in 2025. TotalEnergies has faced fierce resistance from environmental protection groups and green energy campaigners who say the Tilenga project, which is partly located in a national park, and a planned crude oil export pipeline are a disaster for the planet. A coalition of environmental pressure groups said on Wednesday that drilling in the Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP) and the associated crude oil pipeline was detrimental to global efforts to cut reliance on fossil fuels and would devastate the park’s ecosystem. (Reuters)

Not sticking to it – Global consumer products maker Procter & Gamble has dropped its pledge from a corporate policy to not buy wood pulp from degraded forests, a company executive disclosed to investors in a previously-unreported July 18 briefing. The change drew the ire of several P&G investors. One of the world’s major purchasers of pulp for consumer goods, the Cincinnati-based purveyor of Charmin toilet paper, Bounty paper towels, and Puffs tissues, buys the wood product from suppliers in Latin America, Europe, Canada, and the US, according to data on its website. (Reuters)

For the better – A landfill in the Guanabara Bay of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been restored to mangroves, a boost for the area’s flora and fauna. The 600,000 square metres recovered was part of one of the largest landfills in Latin America. From the early 1970s to 2012, the dump in the Jardim Gramacho neighbourhood received around 80 million tonnes of trash, polluting the land and the waters of the Guanabara Bay. The landfill was deactivated 11 years ago and, through an environmental project led by Rio’s Municipal Cleaning Company and a private company, the area has been replaced by greenery. The project began by planting 10 hectares of mangrove plants and now has 60 hectares. It is the largest mangrove area of the bay. (Africa News)

Green medicine – Nature-based health and wellbeing programmes – colloquially known as “green prescribing” – could deliver economic gains of over £635 mln a year in Britain and ease pressure on a struggling National Health Service (NHS), according to a new report by The Wildlife Trusts. Incorporating green prescribing into community health and social care services allows health professionals to direct individuals to nature-based activities for mental and physical wellness. The study, which evaluated five Wildlife Trusts initiatives, found significant cost savings for the NHS. Research indicates that mental health issues cost the UK around £118 bln yearly. (BusinessGreen)

Track it – The Africa Biodiversity and Collaborative Group (ABCG) and the Society for Conservation Biology in Africa (SCBA) have entered into an MoU in support of the sustainable use and management of biodiversity data in Africa and globally. The MoU outlines their joint commitment to address threats to biodiversity, including climate change, food production systems, poverty, and weak governance. (The Star)

The big ones – After many years of rewilding and significant efforts, KwaZulu-Natal’s Babanango Game Reserve in South Africa has attained full Big 5 status, and is now home to lion, rhino, buffalo, leopard, and elephant, among many other species. According to Tourism Update, a small breeding herd of seven elephants were recently introduced to Babanango from Manyoni Game Reserve in Maputaland, whose genetic lineage can be traced to Kruger National Park. These gentle giants play an important role in the ecology of the reserve, to help modify the landscapes as they eat vegetation which other species can’t. (The South African)

New foundations – Japan’s Taiheiyo Cement has become the latest to join the country’s 30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity, it announced this week. Under the membership it plans to carry out greening and conservation efforts at its mining sites in order to make them eligible for registration in the Global Database on Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECM). It has also joined the Keidanren Committee on Nature Conservation, an information-sharing initiative for Japanese businesses.

POLICY

Greener – The prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has announced the establishment of 15 national parks across the country. These parks, part of the “Protected Area Initiative”, will cover more than 7,300 square miles of the nation’s diverse ecological regions, including marine, wetland, desert, and forest ecosystems. The overarching objective of this initiative extends beyond environmental protection. It is also designed to provide opportunities for the youth, particularly in the burgeoning field of eco-tourism. With Pakistan’s natural beauty spanning various ecological zones, the country is uniquely positioned to tap into the potential of eco-tourism as a sustainable strategy for economic development. (BNN)

Calm down – New rules make it easier for Nepalis affected by human-wildlife conflict to receive compensation, in a move the government says is necessary but still insufficient to address the growing phenomenon. The guidelines came into effect July 17, the start of the new fiscal year in Nepal. Maheshwar Dhakal, director-general of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, said the changes were made to meet the changing needs and to respect the federal structure of the country. They allow people to claim compensation and relief for damages caused by 16 types of animals, up from 14 in the previous guidelines. Nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus) and monkeys, seen as pests by farmers in Nepal’s southern plains and middle hills respectively, are the new entrants on the list. (Mongabay)

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