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TOP STORIES
UN panel brands invasive species as global economic threat
A global panel of scientists and experts on Monday sounded a planet-wide alarm over the staggering economic and environmental cost of invasive species in a report that has been approved by 143 governments.
Time to define ‘nature positive’, says new global initiative
A coalition comprising some of the largest environmental organisations and business groups has banded together to define the term ‘nature positive’, in a bid to clear up its meaning for stakeholders in nature and biodiversity.
MARKET
Advisory firm sees mandatory reporting regimes fuel demand in New Zealand biodiversity market
Introducing mandatory natural capital accounting and nature risk disclosure schemes would create the foundation for demand in a New Zealand voluntary biodiversity credit market, according to government-commissioned advice.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
INTERVIEW: Companies should act now to avoid nature disclosure iceberg dead ahead, says Pollination exec
Corporates and financial institutions can create sizeable market opportunities by being first-movers in addressing the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures framework, said the director of a leading consultancy, ahead of the nature disclosure recommendations formal launch in September.
Biodiversity funds are surging, European watchdog has them sighted
A European financial watchdog has highlighted that there is growing interest in biodiversity but is cautious about potential greenwashing within the market.
ISS ESG: 13% of banks courting biodiversity controversies
Some 13% of approximately 1,000 banks covered by ISS ESG’s data service are linked to biodiversity controversies, according to an executive at the company.
Most debt-stressed countries could protect 100% of biodiversity at little cost, researchers find
An academic paper on debt-for-nature swaps published this week found that of 67 highly indebted countries studied, over half could protect all their biodiversity for only a fraction of their debt relief.
Link executive pay to nature targets to spur action, urges Holcim exec
The bonuses of senior leaders at companies should depend on achieving environmental goals on nature as well as climate, according to an executive at Holcim, one of the world’s biggest cement producers.
TOOLS & GUIDANCE
UN finance bodies release global principles to scale blue bonds
A group of UN finance organisations have launched voluntary principles to guide market participants for bond instruments in an effort to increase biodiversity and climate-focused investment in marine projects.
Investment firm publishes guide on biodiversity risks for institutional investors
First Sentier Investors, a global investment manager, has launched a guide designed to help institutional investors identify and assess nature and biodiversity risk in portfolio companies in light of the final framework outlined by the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which is due to be published imminently.
UNEP report tracks the billions in marine habitat restoration funding
A new report from UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre has tracked funding from hundreds of projects that boost marine biodiversity in critical habitats and found private sector funding to be minuscule.
IBAT partners with impact data provider to support investors
The Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) Alliance has partnered with impact data and analytics provider GIST Impact to help investors access its information.
POLICY
Former heads of government urge action to uphold nature finance pledge
The former heads of state of Colombia, Ethiopia, and Uganda have this week urged global leaders to ensure that the nature finance commitment made at the UN biodiversity COP15 summit to deliver at least $20 billion per year to developing countries by 2025 is kept to.
G20 nations lack policy on nature-related disclosure despite COP15 pledge, finds report
Most G20 members still have insufficient policies on nature-related corporate impact, according to new research by disclosure organisation CDP, with the body outlining 10 high-level principles policymakers should adopt to close the current gap.
Nature coalition criticises UK government progress towards 30×30 biodiversity protection target
A coalition of more than 78 UK-based environmental organisations has claimed that the UK government lacks progress on the country’s 30×30 nature-protection pledge and called for more robust action.
PROJECTS
Groups to raise $1 bln for massive nature restoration project in Eastern Himalayas
Two conservation groups lead an initiative that aims to raise $1 billion in order to protect and restore 1 million hectares of land across Northeast India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
Nature NGOs commit $150 mln to restore African rangelands
Conservation International and the Peace Parks Foundation have committed $150 million to a new initiative during Africa Climate Week that aims to boost biodiversity and climate resilience through climate-smart grazing practices.
UK outfit announces regenerative agriculture support programme
A programme for supporting regenerative agriculture initiatives across land and water will launch in October, advisors Bright Tide has said.
MARKET
Rival emerging – A group of REDD project developers and experts are backing a new standard body that will provide an alternative to Verra’s proposed consolidated methodology for avoided deforestation, a well-placed source has told Carbon Pulse. The new body is set to be officially launched at New York Climate Week later this month, tapping into growing demand for sovereign REDD credits while continuing to service voluntary corporate demand.
Fresh cash – Hundreds of millions of dollars were pledged to support Africa’s voluntary carbon market on Monday, the first day of the inaugural African Climate Summit in Nairobi that hopes to kick start a flood of climate change investment into the continent. (Carbon Pulse)
BUSINESS & FINANCE
Adverse risk – Investors are not correctly pricing environmental risk in sovereign bonds, according to an analysis conducted by Barclays Bank, reported by Bloomberg. Barclay’s analysts said that nature loss is projected to cause sovereign downgrades as they increase their risk by failing to adequately protect natural capital, affecting key sectors such as agriculture. Regulators are beginning to step up biodiversity fund monitoring, which puts banks, insurers, and investors at risk of so-called bad actors. The authors said that because biodiversity is “an asset without a price, it is systematically mismanaged”, they estimate nearly $1 trillion would be needed annually to protect biodiversity.
Water – In the UK, the Ofwat Innovation Fund will award up to £40 mln to innovative cross-sector collaborations that are solving challenges facing the water sector, it said this week. Applicants must be led by water companies in England or Wales, and eligible innovation themes include climate change adaptation, protecting and enhancing the environment and natural systems, and delivering long-term resilience.
Wild shopping – Conservation NGO African Parks has announced that it will work to rewild more than 2,000 southern white rhinos over the next decade. The organisation has purchased Platinum Rhino, the planet’s biggest private captive breeding operation for rhinos, a press release from African Parks said. The property covers more than 19,000 acres in South Africa’s North West province. The 2,000 rhinos at Platinum Rhino represent as much as 15 percent of the remaining population of wild rhinos in the world. (EcoWatch)
Present – A family in Alberta, Canada has gifted the 129-ha Gabert-Meeking Creek property to the Nature Conservancy for conservation, reports Lacombe Online. The agreement ensures that the property will continue to operate as a working landscape while protecting its natural state in perpetuity.
POLICY
Money flow – The US government is investing $20 mln to fund 30 research studies to develop new technologies and data that will increase restoration of degraded forests, grasslands, and watersheds, the Department of Agriculture announced. The funding, provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will also support shared efforts between agency scientists, tribes, states, academia, and NGOs, the announcement said.
Wolf wars – Roaming wolves across Europe have become a “real danger for livestock and potentially also for humans,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this week, launching the next phase in combatting their growing numbers in the bloc. Bloomberg reported that affected parties were invited to submit data on the wolf population and its impact to the Commission by Sep. 22, ahead of a potential EU decision to modify rules protecting the animal. NB: von der Leyen’s pony Dolly was killed by a wolf last year.
Rights – The Indonesian government has recognized the rights of 15 Indigenous Dayak communities to forests on Borneo covering a combined area larger than Jakarta. The nearly 70,000 ha is the largest cluster of customary forests ever recognised by the state. The recognition of the ancestral forests is part of President Joko Widodo’s flagship social forestry programme, under which his administration aims to reallocate 12.7 mln ha of state forests to local communities and give them the legal standing to manage their forests for 35 years. Official recognition of customary forests goes even further, with the government relinquishing its control over the forests to the communities for good. (Mongabay)
More water – Saudi Arabia said this week it is it will establish the Global water Organization, to be headquartered in Riyadh. The body will be tasked with addressing global water supply challenges, including sustainability issues.
Getting to work – The Qatar Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) has launched a number of forums on preserving biodiversity for environmental sustainability. The ‘Wildlife Forums 2023-2024’ comprising three forums on wildlife, plants and marine life will host officials and experts to discuss laws and regulations issued to curb the unlawful activities harming the environment and other important issues. (The Peninsula)
SCIENCE & TECH
Behave, Claude – In New South Wales, Australia, a koala named Claude ate thousands of nursery seedlings intended for a wildlife corridor, reports ABC. Nursery owner Humphrey Herington was aware that someone was stealing his seedlings, but did not suspect it was Claude eating them in the cover of darkness until he caught the little marsupial red handed.
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