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TOP STORY
UNDP offers to support design of ‘turtle certificates’ on African island nation
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) will support investors interested in developing or buying “turtle certificates” to support conservation in Central Africa, an executive has said.
MARKET
Roland Berger teams up with Swiss non-profit in design of global voluntary recycling credit
Global management consultancy Roland Berger announced on Tuesday it will work with a Swiss foundation to develop blockchain technology for a Voluntary Recycling Credit (VRC) that will be presented at COP28 in Dubai.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
More than 60% of global GDP threatened by water crisis, says WWF
Trillions of dollars in economic value are at risk in water-dependent sectors, according to environmental not-for-profit WWF, which has shined a spotlight on freshwater resource challenges in a new report.
Businesses sign EU nature charter for singular approach for corporate nature actions
A group of 37 businesses and environmental organisations have signed the European Business Nature Commitment, following the EU’s Business and Nature Summit in Milan this week.
Floating offshore wind developer calls for innovations that support biodiversity
A leading offshore wind developer is calling for innovations in the realm of floating offshore wind that support biodiversity enhancement and help ensure that wind farms co-exist peacefully alongside other sea users.
TOOLS & GUIDANCE
Nature-related target guidance for finance to launch this year
Two guidance documents for financial institutions on setting nature-related targets will launch this year, led by the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the Finance for Biodiversity foundation (FfB).
IUCN outlines new plan to tackle global species decline
Environmental organisation IUCN has called for an increase in financing to stem species loss alongside releasing an action plan to address species decline, but provided little detail on the mechanisms needed to do so.
POLICY
Australia commits A$25 mln to conservation on private land, plans on environmental reform “lock-up”
The Australian government has committed A$25 million ($15.8 mln) to fund conservation work on privately held land, as the minister for environment on Tuesday laid out details on the consultation process for its environmental law reforms.
EU’s top environment official backs development of biodiversity credit methodologies
‘Greenwashing’ through biodiversity credits must be avoided via the development of robust methodologies, the director general for the environment at the European Commission has said.
Antarctic commission urged to unfreeze Antarctica’s marine protected areas process
Governments and their related organisations are not doing enough to protect marine life at the southern end of the planet and must resolve long-standing issues around three crucial areas in the region, scientists and environmentalists said as governments on Monday gathered in Hobart, Australia for two weeks of negotiations on Antarctic marine living resources.
PROJECTS
EU provides cash to launch Finland’s largest-ever biodiversity project
Finland will use EU funding to boost target habitats and garner private-sector funding to make biodiversity projects more financially sustainable, the government announced.
MARKET
Fires – The Brazilian Amazon is seeing greater numbers of wildfires this year despite lower deforestation rates, threatening progress to conserve the biome, researchers said in a letter published Monday. The 18 authors, led by researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the University of South Alabama, cited a number of reasons behind growing wildfires in Brazilian Amazon. Despite a recent decrease in deforestation rates, hotter and drier weather conditions due to El Nino, a lag effect of the soar in deforestation under former President Jair Bolsonaro, and burning pastures earlier in the dry season continue to threaten positive environmental impacts in the region, the researchers concluded in their letter, published in the scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. (Carbon Pulse)
More fires – Expensive afforestation projects in grasslands and other previously open ecosystems using flammable, non-native trees in order to capture carbon should be off the table given the fire risk, according to researchers. Expensive afforestation projects in grasslands and other previously open ecosystems using flammable, non-native trees in order to capture carbon should be off the table given the fire risk, according to researchers. Such tree planting projects come with threats to more effective soil carbon and general biodiversity, a high cost of fire management that is not priced in to current $500 mln World Bank programmes, the risk of far more substantial fires, and a lack of plans to regenerate areas hit by bushfires, according to an article penned by academics at the universities of Oxford and Cape Town. (Carbon Pulse)
BUSINESS & FINANCE
Irish wood – In Ireland, the Nature Trust, a not-for-profit joint venture co-founded by Coillte and serial entrepreneur John Beckett, announced Monday that it has opened a third round of funding aimed at raising €7 million to create new native woodlands across Ireland. The previous two funding rounds were oversubscribed and this third fundraising round is being managed by Deloitte Corporate Finance. (Irish Tech News)
The next phase – IUCN and Chinese tech firm Huawei have agreed to launch a second phase of their Tech4Nature partnership, they announced on Thursday. The partners will aim to scale up the use of digital technologies in effective and equitable management of protected and conserved areas, with plans to develop tech-based solution for pilot projects in at least five countries – Brazil, China, Kenya, Mexico, and Turkey. They also plan to support the Global Species Action Plan (GSAP) online knowledge platform and develop knowledge products.
Add it up – In Malaysia, members of the Indigenous communities, government agencies, civil society groups and research institutes have come together in the Sabah State Conference on Community Based Marine Resource Management to streamline efforts in expanding the protection of Sabah’s marine environment. A mapping exercise during the conference has revealed that 17 coastal community groups in Sabah are protecting more than 12,000 ha of marine and coastal areas, with multiple stakeholders strategising to appropriately recognise these areas as Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to support marine conservation. (Borneo Post)
Accelerate – A UK-government backed programme aiming to increase the number of investable nature-related projects has opened for applications, its organiser Finance Earth has said. The UK Nature Accelerator is open for ‘expressions of interest’ until Oct. 27 looking for proposals at a specific stage of development related to woodland creation, peatland restoration or biodiversity net gain projects. (Carbon Pulse)
POLICY
Pellet plan – The European Commission proposed measures on Monday to prevent microplastic pollution from the spillage of plastic pellets into the environment. Around 176,000 metric tons of microplastics are unintentionally released into the environment each year, according to the European Chemicals Agency. Measures proposed include prevention to avoid any spills of plastic pellets, which are small granules used in the plastics manufacturing process. Other suggested measures include containment of spilled pellets to make sure they do not pollute the environment and cleaning up afterwards, if a spill has occurred. (Reuters)
Undecided – EU member states on Friday voted on whether to extend the licence for glyphosate, a pesticide ingredient that is deeply controversial amid claims it causes major harm to nature and biodiversity. However, no qualified majority was reached in the vote, and the decision is now set to be made in an appeal committee within a few weeks. WHO is among organisations saying glyphosate is harmful, and producer Bayer Monsanto has been successfully sued by affected parties in the US.
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