Biodiversity Pulse has now gone biweekly!
Welcome to Carbon Pulse’s free newsletter on the biodiversity market. Due to popular demand and an influx of news on nature, we’ve increased to biweekly editions 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
A hundred of the world’s largest companies targeted by investors to take action on nature loss
A global investor initiative has listed some of the world’s largest companies that its financial sector partners will now pressure for tangible progress on addressing nature-related risks and dependencies.
MARKET
Biodiversity credits could lead to misleading nature-positive claims, report says
Biodiversity credits could lead to organisations making inaccurate nature-positive claims because the lack of standards makes assessing their veracity impossible, a report has found.
Australia must simplify biodiversity projects to scale nature repair market, study finds
Australian biodiversity-related projects must become more streamlined to encourage adoption, in an effort to scale the nature repair market, a government-backed study has found.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
UK-France bilateral summit leads to millions invested for nature restoration and climate
A UK state visit to France aiming to cement climate collaboration between the two countries has resulted in a series of nature-based investments from retail companies, investment houses, and not-for-profits.
TNFD urgently needs to consider metrics beyond MSA, consultant says
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) must “urgently” consider metrics beyond MSA, an executive at environmental consultancy Ramboll has said, while suggesting that Britain’s net gain mechanism offers a more robust approach.
IDB, Banco do Brasil announce $250-mln bioeconomy financing programme
A $250 million programme for financing renewable biological products in the Amazon has been announced by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Banco do Brasil.
Small businesses need ‘defogging’ of TNFD, construction firm says
SMEs will not want to implement the recommendations of Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) unless they are “defogged”, a construction company has said.
PROJECTS
Flyway to heaven: Initiative eyes new bond to secure better future for America’s migratory birds
Two bird conservation groups and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) are seeking to raise $3-5 billion over the next decade, including through a new bond, to launch more than 30 projects to reverse the decline of migratory birds in the Americas.
UK government backs programme for making nature projects investable
A programme for building nature projects up to investable standards is receiving funding from the UK government, but biodiversity credit-related initiatives will not initially be eligible.
MARKET
Upping the price – Honduras will target international sales of Article 6-compliant REDD+ credits, due to be issued next year, at a price of at least $25/tonne, the country’s environment minister confirmed to Carbon Pulse, and is already in discussion with buyers to complete transactions in 2025. The price represents a substantial premium to current nature-based credits trading in the voluntary carbon market, and some participants expressed scepticism that the credits would find buyers at such a high price given the gap. (Carbon Pulse)
Cosmetics-backed credits – Estee Lauder has committed £100,000 to the South Downs woodland project in southern England, aiming to develop more than 5,000 hectares of interconnected native woodland habitats and to generate income through the sale of carbon credits and other ecosystem services. The initiative will be delivered by UK nature restoration facility, Revere, in partnership with National Parks UK and Palladium and will be open to landholders of different sizes. Revere launched with private sector support from Santander UK, the Estee Lauder Companies UK & Ireland, Gatwick Airport, Capita, and Southern Co-op. The facility is also working with landowners in Scotland to issue carbon credits. The beauty giant has also guaranteed a further £300,000 to be spent on other nature restoration projects throughout the UK’s national parks over the next three years.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
High-ambition natcap accounting – Officials from the US and Australia met in New York on Friday, agreeing to work together on approaches to measuring nature’s benefit to the economy. That will include working towards a broader high-ambition group to create opportunities for global leadership in accounting for natural capital, they announced.
Where’s octo – The Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability (SALT), a global community of governmental, seafood industry, and nonprofit organisations, has announced the launch of a traceability project for an octopus fishery in Tanzania. With support from FAO the new digital intervention programme, Comprehensive Electronic Catch Documentation and Traceability (eCDT), aims to improve traceability systems at the octopus fishery off the island of Kilwa. It also sets out to bolster the East African country’s efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing of octopus; expand its global seafood market reach; and meet emerging food traceability regulations that key markets, such as the EU, have established. (Seafood Source)
Chill gardens – China will select another 14 candidate units entitled to become national botanical gardens in order to build up a more sound and harmonious national system of botanical gardens and national parks management as well as promote biodiversity conservation, CCTV reports.
Measuring nature – A guide for natural capital accounting by measuring assets such as air, water, and soil for Australian companies and landowners has been launched by Australian government agency Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The handbook draws from the UN System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework while aligning with existing corporate financial reporting practices. The value of nature needs to be factored into financial decisions, CSIRO said.
Nature plans – The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) hopes to launch a technical document dedicated to the types of model used for scenario analysis in December, following its evaluation of six frameworks, one of its members has said. These scenarios will aim to help banks plan for different futures based on their nature-related risks. “We will have some very specific recommendations on how they work, what are the underlying assumptions, how they can be used in narratives,” Serafin Martinez Jaramillo, manager at Banco de Mexico, said during a panel at the Nature Positive Hub during New York Climate Week.
POLICY
Germany fined – Germany has failed to protect its natural habitats, the European Court of Justice found following the European Commission suing the country. Berlin will now face fines of a size that has yet to be disclosed. Germany had set an insufficient number of targets to restore animals, insects, and plants in conservation areas, the Commission argued. (DW)
Better times – In Australia, the New South Wales state government has announced it will spend A$80 mln ($51.3 mln) to protect koalas and secure their habitat in southwest Sydney. That includes A$48 mln for a 1,830 ha national park along the Georges River, A$26 mln for koala friendly crossings, and A$5.7 mln that will go towards koala care in the Macarthur area, the government said.
Spot the boat – The Pacific island nation of Palau has agreed with non-profit Global Fishing Watch to share its vessel tracking data to make it available on the group’s public map. Under their partnership, Global Fishing Watch will provide analytical support based on the examination of vessel behaviours, fleet patterns, and trends associated with port inspections, licensing, and enforcement efforts. This information exchange can help inform the country’s ongoing development of its national fisheries policy and marine spatial plans, and will also strengthen its regional and international influence in support of ocean governance initiatives to safeguard marine biodiversity. Papua New Guinea and the Marshall Islands have previously agreed to share such data.
Metric – The Scottish government has released a review of site-level biodiversity metric methodologies. The research primarily explored the applicability of the DEFRA Biodiversity Metric version 3.1. It’s expected that version 4.0 of the metric will be adopted and mandatory under biodiversity net gain regulations for the planning sector in England in November, but the Scottish research reviewed its applicability, and 26 others for broader biodiversity monitoring in Scotland. According to the paper, the four sectors with the main interest in biodiversity monitoring in Scotland are agriculture, ecosystem markets, planning, and development and conservation. The researchers said the DEFRA’s metric could be adapted for the Scottish context and used outside of planning alongside a suite of other indicators, such as species and connectivity information, that could operate within a wider biodiversity framework.
SCIENCE & TECH
Comeback – Rhino populations across Africa have been increasing over the past year, numbers from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) show. The number of rhinos living in Africa at the end of 2022 was estimated at over 23,000, representing a 5% increase from the year before according to the IUCN. The group said growing numbers show that measures to protect rhinos were having an impact, but warned of the continued threat of poaching. Keeping rhino populations healthy is crucial to ensure biodiversity, conservationists say. “They create habitats for other species, providing opportunities for future global restoration and rewilding options,” the IUCN explained in a statement. Rhinos also drive tourism and are thus an important economic factor for local people according to experts. (DW)
Conflict – In Kazakhstan, environmentalists have been so successful in bringing the saiga antelope back from the brink of extinction that farmers are now warning the surging antelope population is putting their crops at risk and endangering their livelihoods, reports Eurasianet.
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