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TOP STORIES

Plan Vivo opens second consultation on nature crediting methodology

Nature and carbon standard Plan Vivo has launched a second consultation on its ‘PV Nature Methodology’, making significant changes from the first draft based on public feedback, such as introducing a standardised way to collect and analyse data, and amendments to the calculating of percentage change in biodiversity.

Tackling the nature crisis to top agenda at GEF quadrennial meeting

Finding governing models and funding mechanisms to effectively address the ongoing nature crisis will be the main focus when the Global Environment Facility (GEF) next week holds its four-yearly assembly in Vancouver, Canada.

MARKET

UK company wins government backing to kickstart biodiversity credits in Scotland

UK-based CreditNature has won a contract with the Scottish government to develop a biodiversity credit system, in an effort to catalyse the voluntary market in Scotland.

UK land management firm to develop biodiversity uplift fund

Land management firm Restore has initiated discussions with investors to set up a fund to secure a 40,000-hectare biodiversity uplift across the UK.

Australian researchers look for partners to form Nature Positive Economy CRC

A new Australian research group will soon bid for government funding to establish itself as cooperative research centre (CRC) with the aim to support A$2 billion in annual investments in carbon, biodiversity, and natural capital markets.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

TNFD study calls for global nature-related public data facility

A global nature-related data facility accessible for the public should be created to support governments, businesses, and civil society stakeholders in drawing up policies, setting targets, and making investments to combat the global nature crisis, according to a study released Friday by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

Timber and pulp companies unprepared for EU-deforestation legislation, study suggests

Timber and pulp countries have not made sufficient progress towards complying with an upcoming EU law that obliges companies to prove products sold in the 27-nation bloc have not led to deforestation, according to a London-based initiative.

State-owned insurer launches China’s first biodiversity insurance policy

A state-owned insurance major in China has launched the country’s first forest biodiversity insurance that provides compensation for environmental damage, targeting a region in Zhejiang province’s Ningbo city.

Pulp and paper majors launch Amazon biodiversity protection programme

Two major players in the global pulp and paper industry have partnered to launch a pilot programme to protect biodiversity in the Amazon region.

Australian supermarket giant launches pilot to test natural capital measurement incentives

Australian supermarket chain Woolworths Group has teamed up with a research think-tank to co-design a pilot programme to test incentives for farmers to measure their natural capital in supply chains.

From retiring to rewilding: Charity purchases land for former circus elephants’ last hurrah

A UK-based charity has purchased land in Alentejo, Portugal with a vision to transform it into a rewilding project and sanctuary for former circus elephants.

POLICY

Gabon seals first debt-for-nature swap on mainland Africa, focus on oceans

Gabon’s national debt has been restructured under a ‘Blue Bond’ in the world’s second-largest debt-for-nature swap.

MARKET

New approach – The UNESCO World Heritage site Duerrenstein-Lassingtal Wilderness Area in Lower Austria has announced its first climate partnership with a cosmetics and food supplements company, aiming to provide corporates with a means to offset their emissions while protecting valuable nature. The area consists of a large primeval forest and has been listed as a World Heritage site since 2017. It has now launched the Klimapartnerschaft.at. Under the partnership, cosmetics firm Ringana has provided finance to take 139 ha of the forest “out of use” for 10 years, and it is estimated this will store 833 tonnes of CO2 annually. (Carbon Pulse)

Joining in – California-based land management restoration firm Vibrant Planet this week became the latest to join the UN-backed Biodiversity Credit Alliance, a coalition of companies working on developing principles and guidance for the voluntary biodiversity credit market. For more about the alliance’s plans, read this interview Carbon Pulse did with acting BCA coordinator Johan Maree in May.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Elephiance – WWF is launching the Asian Elephant Alliance (AEA) to secure a future in which loss and fragmentation of elephant habitats is reduced, people and elephants live side by side in a sustainable way, and wild elephant populations are stable. The Alliance calls for partnership and collective action as it acknowledges that the challenges faced by the elephants in the region cannot be solved in isolation. Improved research, monitoring, protection, and management are the key focus areas of AEA. (Vietnamnet)

Coming back – Conservationists are planting trees to lure the endangered glossy black cockatoo back to the South Australian mainland, where it has been extinct for decades. Two potential “scouting” birds have already been spotted. For now, the SA subspecies of “glossies” exists only on Kangaroo Island, where it rose from the ashes of the 2019-20 bushfires that destroyed much of its habitat. Now, Greening Australia and WWF Australia are planting almost 20,000 trees in the hope of tempting the birds across Backstairs Passage to the Fleurieu Peninsula. (Guardian)

POLICY

Asking around – The UK environmental audit committee has launched an inquiry into the role private finance can play in investing in nature. The inquiry will look at how private investment can help achieve the government’s nature commitments and how the UK might develop markets in natural capital assets while avoiding the greenwashing of investments. (ESG Clarity)

SCIENCE & TECH

What works – Protected areas, land managed by Indigenous people, ecosystem payment services, commodity certification programmes, supply-chain initiatives, and strong legislation are the efforts that work best to halt deforestation, according to research released this week by Conservation International and the University of British Columbia. The study, an update on a 2017 report on the same issue, was intended to help policy-makers as they draw up plans to meet their Global Biodiversity Framework commitments. Agriculture and livestock were found to be major drivers of deforestation, while good governance, democracy, peace, land tenure rights, and gender balance were found to largely have little impact on deforestation levels.

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