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 STORY

INTERVIEW: Biodiversity too big for governments to act alone, UNDP director says

The private sector has a key role to play in developing National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and achieving the $200-billion funding target for nature, according to Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, director and executive coordinator of environmental finance at UNDP.

MARKET

UNEP FI asks investors to target their biodiversity spending amid global mismatch

Countries with the greatest biodiversity richness are the ones spending the least on nature, the UNEP Finance Initiative (FI) has found, urging investors to identify whether they are contributing to the trend.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

$7 trillion investor group asks G20 to reform agricultural subsidies

Thirty-two investors managing $7.3 trillion in assets have asked the G20 group of wealthy countries to align their agricultural subsidies with climate and nature goals.

EU, US investors driving deforestation and land clearing in Australia, report reveals

Deforestation and forest degradation in Australia is being overlooked by overseas investors to their peril, a report released Monday warned, as biodiversity and nature loss becomes an increasingly material risk for companies and their financiers if not managed effectively.

UK charity hopes to turn the tide of nature loss with £6-mln rewilding investment

A new grant-funded programme in the UK will seek to introduce keystone species and enhance marine protections across the country, in line with the country’s Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) targets.

Biodiversity at breaking point without new funds for developing countries, say NGOs at global nature assembly

A group of NGOs are calling for funding to jump-start a global biodiversity fund at an international environmental assembly week, a move that they see as essential to stem biodiversity loss.

New global standard for biodiversity uplift certification due next year

A UK-based environmental research organisation is developing a site-based biodiversity standard, applicable to any project size in any geography.

POLICY

Ecuadorians vote against oil drilling in Amazonian global biodiversity hotspot

Alongside the high-profile presidential elections on Sunday, Ecuadorians were asked to vote on continuing oil exploration in one of the most biodiverse locations on the planet.

Global initiative launched to arrest nature crime

The governments of the US, Norway, and Gabon have joined the UN, Interpol, and a range of civil society organisations in setting up a global alliance to fight nature-related crime.

Report stresses need for policy consistency as governments set out to meet 30×30 target

Implementing aligned policies across ministries and avoiding vested interests will be a key factor for governments as they hammer out strategies to meet the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)’s 30×30 target, according to a report led by WWF US released this week.

MARKET

Protecting the forest – The Brazilian state of Acre is currently negotiating the sale of 100 mln avoided deforestation carbon credits from the Amazon jurisdiction’s longstanding REDD+ programme. The units, which cover emissions reductions over the 2005-15 period, stem from Acre’s ISA Carbono programme. (Carbon Pulse)

Into Africa – The US government this week announced it will spend $2 mln over the next three years on a programme to help Mozambique develop nature-based carbon credit projects. The Planeta programme, funded through USAID, will be implemented by Nairobi-based investment firm CrossBoundary. (Carbon Pulse)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Raising cash – London-based NatureMetrics, which is working on DNA sampling tech to track the species present in different locations, has secured £9.8 mln in new funding, according to Companies House filings. The company confirmed the fundraise to Sifted. NatureMetrics is one of Europe’s best-capitalised biodiversity monitoring companies, and one that industry insiders cite as a leader in the category. Investors in the company’s latest fundraise have not been disclosed. NatureMetrics last raised £11.9 mln in May 2022 from investors including 2150, Systemiq, and BNP Paribas. The company, which was founded in 2014, has now raised £30.7 mln in total.

A few more – Iceberg Data Lab will provide biodiversity-related data to three more financial institutions, it said this week. Generali Group, Banque de France Gestion – an asset manager subsidiary of the French central bank – and public pension scheme ERAFP will receive impacts and dependencies information from Iceberg Data Lab. Other clients of the data company include the core group of the Banque de France, Axa Investment Managers, and BNP Paribas Asset Management.

Starting over – In Papua New Guinea, the Ameng and Munigwin clans in Madang province have signed a conservation deed to protect land and natural resources across an area of 2,260 ha. The area has been under conservation in the past, but had lapsed until the agreement was restored through engagement with the Nature Conservancy and USAID, reports the Post Courier.

Tall grass – Danish-headquartered renewables company Orsted has teamed up with The Nature Conservancy and the Conservation Fund to protect and restore up to 3,000 acres of tallgrass prairie habitat near its 200-MW Sunflower Wind Farm in Kansas, US, the company said this week. Orsted donated over $2 mln to the two groups in order to fund the work.

POLICY

Knock-on effect – An EU ban on goods linked to deforestation due to come into force at the end of next year could favour big companies that can trace where there produce has been grown, to the detriment of smaller suppliers unable to do so, reports the FT. Exporters from countries such as Brazil or Honduras, among the main suppliers of coffee to the bloc, or Indonesia and Malaysia, key palm oil and rubber exporters, could end up trying to sidestep the regulation by sending goods to countries with less stringent import rules, which would disrupt trade flows. The impact of the law, the first in the world to ban imports of products linked to deforestation, including cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya, wood and rubber, will depend on how well the EU addresses its outreach to developing countries.

Walking the walk – Mexico has announced the creation of 13 new protected areas across six states, putting the country’s list of total federally protected areas at 200. Mexico introduced six new national parks and seven “flora and fauna protection areas” covering 17,918 ha (44,276 acres) to be overseen by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp). The commission said it expects to declare three additional protected areas by the end of the month. Since taking office in 2018, Lopez Obrador’s administration has protected over 4 mln ha of land and water. (Mongabay)

Time for an upgrade – Banning development in parts of New South Wales in Australia to protect flora and fauna is among almost 60 recommendations made following an independent review, with environmental groups welcoming the chance to improve one of the most important biodiversity laws. In the review of the state’s Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, released on Thursday, lead author and former federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry said outdated regulation had resulted in biodiversity not being conserved in the state. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Canada’s conservation cash –  The Government of Canada is investing more than C$4.8 mln from Canada’s Enhanced Nature Legacy to support a variety of partners in improving biodiversity benefits in the Long Point biosphere region, Ontario. The investment is split between more than six partner organisations to cover activities including reducing threats to amphibians, border and plant species monitoring and habitat improvement works with landowners. Canada’s Nature Legacy and Enhanced Nature Legacy programmes have released more than $5 bln in funding to take the country towards achieving national biodiversity targets. (Newswire)

SCIENCE & TECH

Too hot to handle – Leaves in the world’s tropical rainforests could struggle to withstand spiralling temperatures, leading to a disruption of photosynthesis and eventual plant death, a new study has found. Using International Space Station (ISS) data, researchers discovered that a small yet growing percentage of tree leaves in tropical forests are approaching the maximum temperature threshold for leaves to photosynthesise, which is 46.7C on average. Currently only 0.01% of all leaves surpass this threshold, but scientists warn that temperature rises of 4C could push tropical forest trees into mass death. This would be hugely detrimental to Earth’s climate systems and biodiversity, given that tropical rainforests house half of the world’s animal and plant species and help to stabilize global climates by sucking billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year. (Live Science)

Got a tip? How about some feedback? Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com