Presenting Biodiversity Pulse Weekly, Carbon Pulse’s free newsletter on the biodiversity market. It’s a weekly summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. Subscribe here
All articles in this edition are free to read (no subscription required).
TOP STORIES
Verra biodiversity methodology to provide global framework with localised modules
Verra’s SD VISta Nature Framework and biodiversity methodology will provide an overarching global framework for projects to meet, complemented by localised modules based on biomes or eco-regions, and may also incorporate the issue of biodiversity significance.
UK government publishes price tiers for ‘net gain’ biodiversity credits
The British government has published provisional price tiers for its statutory biodiversity credits as part of upcoming net gain legislation, with the final values to be set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and subject to periodic review.
MARKET
Plan Vivo to strike balance between accessibility and credibility with biodiversity credit protocol
The biodiversity credit protocol expected to be launched by Plan Vivo later this year will strive to offer an approach with scientific credibility that is also accessible to communities and can be rolled out at scale, heard a recent conference on nature-based solutions.
UNDP seeks to de-risk biodiversity credits under its tiger protection bonds
Around 15% of the bonds to be issued by the United Development Programme (UNDP) to help support tiger ecosystem protection in four Asian countries could be monetised through the sale of “high integrity biodiversity credits”, depending upon the ability to de-risk the credits through guarantee provisions.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
First nature-based blended finance fund to launch in UK draws huge institutional interest
Advisory firm Finance Earth is launching the first nature-based solutions blended finance fund in the UK, a venture it co-designed with investment manager Federated Hermes and with proposed seed funding from the UK’s environment agency.
AfDB, UNEP team up to boost biodiversity finance for Africa
The African Development Bank and the UN Environment Programme have signed a framework to drive the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which includes a partnership to help attract additional finance for nature.
Ocean impact fund raises funding target after latest investment, bets on seabed harvesting firm
A Luxembourg-based ocean fund has increased its funding target after attracting €30 million from an insurance company, while investing in a Norwegian tech firm specialising in harvesting seafood from the seabed without harming ecosystems.
EU donates €25 mln to FAO biodiversity, food programme
The EU has contributed an additional €25 million to the Food and Agricultural Organization’s Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWP) programme, with the funds set to benefit African biodiversity over the next six years.
Canadian miner says will apply for seabed mining licence next year, eyes 2025 start
Canada’s The Mining Company (TMC) said Tuesday it will apply to the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for a deep sea mining licence after the ISA Council meeting in July next year, and expects to begin operations in an area more than twice as big as initially planned in Q4 2025.
French corporates call for government to make nature restoration a core part of planning laws
A collective of more than 150 companies and associations has called on the French government to make the regeneration of nature the focal point of its laws regarding development, in a column in Le Monde published Tuesday.
POLICY
ISA negotiations end with no decision on deep sea mining
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) wrapped up three weeks of negotiations in Jamaica Friday with no decision on deep seabed mining, denying the mining industry the green light to go ahead for at least another two years.
EU presents new guidelines and forest payment schemes strategy
The European Commission published on Friday its new “closer to nature” guidelines as well as providing guidance on ecosystem payment schemes as part of its strategy for improved management of forests across the 27-nation bloc.
UK opens consultation on private investment for nature recovery, greenwashing risks
British lawmakers have opened a consultation to scrutinise whether the UK government’s policies to promote natural capital and investment in biodiversity protection are adequate, focusing on greenwashing risks as well as how best to scale private finance to achieve the goals of imminent biodiversity net gain legislation.
US readies guidance for ecosystem services accounting in cost-benefit analyses
The US federal government has released draft guidelines to support public agencies in including ecosystem services when doing cost-benefit analyses.
Turkey withdraws from hosting biodiversity COP16 due to earthquake devastation
Turkey has withdrawn from hosting the 2024 UN biodiversity summit, citing a force majeure following the three devastating earthquakes earlier in the year, officials confirmed this week.
MARKET
Building blocks – The market for UK peatland restoration projects is growing fast but needs clear parameters in the way of more regular verifications, contractual obligations, and better reporting guidelines for businesses in order to improve market liquidity and carbon credit sales. Just a fraction of carbon units have been sold under the UK Peatland Code so far, at just over 30,000 units of the 535,593 pending issuance units generated overall under the mechanism, created in 2015. (Carbon Pulse)
BUSINESS & FINANCE
Non-starter – Sweden’s government has rejected a project to build an offshore wind farm off the country’s western coast over environmental concerns and a possible adverse impact on national shipping interests. The Stora Middelgrund wind farm, proposed by energy company Vattenfall, would have produced between 2.5 TWh and 3 TWh a year, an equivalent of 1.5% of Sweden’s total electricity consumption. (Balkan Green Energy News)
Improvement – Fewer trees have been cut down in Queensland, Australia, but some conservationists are calling for the laws to be tightened further to protect endangered species such as koalas. The latest state government report into land clearing shows about 349,000 ha were cleared in the 2020-21 reporting period, down 49% from the first statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) in 2018-19. In 2018 the Queensland government strengthened legislation to crack down on what it called “unsustainable” clearing, which included removing provisions that allowed new areas to be cleared for high-value agriculture. (ABC)
Adding space – Also in Australia, the New South Wales state government will establish a 100,000 ha area of national park in the state’s northwest, following its purchase of cattle and sheep property Comeroo station. The acquisition of the 37,000 ha Comeroo, Muttawary and Maranoa stations (known collectively as Comeroo), 150 km north west of Bourke, from owners Bruce and Chris Sharpe will produce an expanded national park covering 100,000 ha in the region, containing endangered ecological communities and an array of threatened species. The estate will be managed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. (Beef Central)
And taking it away – However, land clearing rates remain high in NSW. The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC) has called on the NSW government to act on its commitment to stop the runaway land clearing that is decimating NSW bush. The latest land clearing data shows that land clearing continues to devastate large swathes of vegetation every year. The annual Statewide Land and Tree Study (SLATS) data shows an average of 95,000 ha of native vegetation was cleared across the state every year for the past four years. Over half of this is ‘unallocated’ or unexplained clearing that may or may not be legal, according to the NCC. (Echo)
Accelerator – Singapore-based investment firm Silverstrand Capital this week announced the eight startups selected to be part of this year’s Biodiversity Accelerator+, a three-month programme to help companies fulfil their growth potential and become investment ready. This cohort addresses the biodiversity crisis across a broad range of market-based interventions, including corporate supply chain risk management, biodiversity data collection and analytics, sustainable aquaculture, private sector financing for nature-based solutions, and the forest bioeconomy. This year’s cohort included Arbimon (US), Bioverse (Brazil), Blue Sky Analytics (India), EarthAcre (US, Kenya), Guardians of Earth (global), Nika.eco (Singapore), Oceanfarmr (Australia, US), and Xylo Systems (Australia).
Roaring return – Bhutan’s tiger population is growing at a rate of 5% yearly, on average, with the current population estimated at 131 individuals across the country. This is an increase of 27% compared with 103 in the last national tiger survey in 2015. The fourth national tiger survey report launched on July 29 coinciding with the Global Tiger Day revealed that the tigers were found in the eight protected areas and nine forest divisions. Three hundred foresters from 10 protected areas and 14 territorial divisions were involved in the year-long survey. Most of the sightings were reported from the Royal Manas National Park, Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park (JSWNP), Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary, Jigme Dorji National Park, Bumthang, Dagana, and Zhemgang Divisions with tiger density of more than two individuals per 100 km2. (Kuensel Online)
Adding cash – Canada’s federal government this week announced some C$1.5 mln in funding for the Nature Conservancy’s habitat protection and restoration efforts along the St. Lawrence River, in addition to C$250,000 previously granted. This project will take place in the St. Lawrence Lowlands in Quebec, mainly in the Capitale-Nationale, Chaudiere-Appalaches, and Mauricie regions. Its aim is to protect suitable core habitats for species at risk, in particular through conservation planning activities, the development of partnerships, or land acquisition, and to connect them by ecological corridors. The area targeted by this project is home to a total of 21 species at risk, including the Bobolink, the Short-eared Owl, and Victorin’s Gentian.
POLICY
Opening the door – The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, cleared the contentious Forest Conservation (Amendment) bill 2023 on Wednesday, opening the door for development and exploitation of vast tracts of forest lands that are not recorded as such in government records and potentially endangering sensitive ecosystems in the Northeast that fall under a national security exemption. With this, the bill that seeks to overhaul India’s forest management with far-reaching changes, including in the definition of what constitutes a forest, has been approved by parliament. Hundreds of legal and environmental experts have flagged potentially damaging clauses in the bill that might endanger as much as 25% of India’s forest cover. (Hindustan Times)
EU extinctions – Expanding protected areas in the EU should be guided by choosing locations that are home to the species facing “the most imminent threat of extinction”, as opposed to the current regime that prioritises reaching targets simply through the amount of area that is protected, a new study suggests. Protected areas in the EU currently cover 50% of the range of threatened species, with Spain, Greece, and Portugal housing the greatest number of species with an “imminent” extinction threat. The EU has a collective goal to expand protected areas by 30% by 2030 to “halt and reverse” biodiversity loss, as agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the EU Biodiversity Strategy.
Everybody chipping in – South Korea is in the process of developing its 5th national biodiversity strategy, which will run from 2024 through 2028. As part of that process, the environment ministry is encouraging everyone to share ideas of actions that can be taken, and plans to hand out 4.6 mln won ($3,600) in prize money to those with the best ideas. The submission window is Aug. 7-31.
Got a tip? How about some feedback? Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com
