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TOP STORY

Japan pilots biodiversity support certificates to beef up nature spending

Japan has started a first piloting phase for companies seeking to generate certificates by supporting government-certified biodiversity projects that they can use in reports under the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

MARKET

Italian tech company gets EU backing to develop biodiversity credits

The EU will provide funding for an Italian firm to adapt its existing approach for biodiversity credits, with the company now seeking to take advantage of opportunities emerging from European-wide corporate disclosure rules.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Australian bank to end land clearing support from 2026

Australia’s Westpac on Monday announced it will end lending to the conversion of natural forest to agricultural land, as it became the nation’s first bank to release a natural capital position statement and pledge an ambition to become nature positive.

Largest food companies reduce biodiversity risks, report finds

The world’s 60 largest food companies reduced their risks from biodiversity and deforestation by 6% over the last year, a report by investor network FAIRR has found.

POLICY

UN arm asks governments to account for $10 trillion hidden costs of food

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is approaching governments to ask them to account for the hidden $10 trillion environmental, social, and health costs of the food system in a report.

UK’s flagship environment law not yet able to have impact on deforestation, says NGO study

The UK’s two-year-old “world-leading” environmental legislation has not affected deforestation rates due to a lack of follow-up action by the government, according to analysis conducted by NGOs and published on Tuesday.

EU’s nature restoration bill faces uncertain path amid parliamentary divisions, says senior lawmaker

The atmosphere in negotiations for the EU’s nature restoration law is not positive, with its future over the next few months uncertain, a member of the Greens–European Free Alliance (EFA) party involved in the talks has said.

PROJECTS

Canada, British Columbia, First Nations ink billion-dollar biodiversity agreement

Canada’s federal government, the province of British Columbia (BC), and the First Nations Leadership Council have signed off on a shared approach to implementing habitat restoration and species-specific actions in the province.

MARKET

Co-benefits – Japanese trading house Marubeni has partnered with two Malaysian companies to develop carbon projects with biodiversity benefits, it announced Monday. Working with Sabah Softwoods Berhad (SSB) in Sabah state and KTS Resources in Sarawak, it plans to develop projects that generate carbon credits from actions like planting native species at degraded palm plantations and restoring devastated coconut plantations to mangrove forests. (Carbon Pulse)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Wrong direction – Ocean conservation group Oceana has urged Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the world’s two biggest plastic bottle polluters, to do better, after a report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and UN Environment Programme showed the two companies had increased their plastic packaging in 2022, rather than reducing it as pledged. Coca-Cola’s use rose over 6% to 3.43 mln tonnes over the period, while Pepsi increased its own by 4% to 2.6 mln. Just adding recycled plastic to single-use bottles isn’t enough, Coca-Cola and Pepsi “need to dramatically increase the share of refillable packaging to make a real impact”, Oceana said in a statement.

Net and chill – UK-headquartered private equity fund Ocean 14 Capital has invested an undisclosed sum in fishing net recycler Bureo, the investor has said. The series B round of funding, led by Toyota Tsusho Corporation, saw commitments from French investor Mirova, US impact fund Conservation International Ventures, and the Susquehanna Foundation. Los Angeles-based Bureo turns fishing nets into plastic products such as skateboards, sunglasses, and frisbees. (Ocean 14 Capital)

Wild flying – Qatar Airways has announced a partnership with United for Wildlife, a programme founded by Prince William, to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. The airline has a “zero-tolerance” policy for the transporting of illegal wildlife and related products. Employees take part in illegal wildlife trade awareness training. According to the Peninsula, it was the first airline to become certified to an industry standard on the illegal wildlife trade. Qatar Airways provides free transportation services for organisations returning animals.

Carbon farming  – Estonian agricultural technology firm eAgronom said it will have 200,000 ha across five countries Africa through its “carbon farming” programme by the end of the year, as it eyes further expansion in Uganda and Zambia. The company works with firms including South Pole to generate Verra-certified carbon credits for sale in the voluntary carbon market from increasing soil health and changing farm practices, as well as providing technology to monitor the change. It said it already has more than 1.4 mln ha in Eastern Europe under its carbon farming programme. (Carbon Pulse)

POLICY

Spend! – An Australian government inquiry tasked with developing a national approach to tackle one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems in the south-east of the country has called for a A$55-mln investment over five years. The long-spined sea urchin is native to New South Wales, but an explosion in their numbers in recent decades has seen them transform up to half the state’s shallow reef habitat into underwater deserts as they overgraze kelp and destroy habitat for other marine life. The Senate committee investigating the impacts of the urchins and methods to combat their spread recommend a national taskforce established in February oversee the development of a national sea urchin industry. (ABC)

Hippo cartel – The government of Colombia is set to cull around 166 feral hippos that are descended from a private herd owned by drug lord Pablo Escobar. In addition, Colombia’s environment minister said that around 20 would be sterilised and others transferred abroad. The herd escaped following Escobar’s death in 1993, and last year the species was declared as invasive to Colombia. By 2035, the population of hippos is expected to reach 1,000 but experts have warned that the current population is already threatening humans and wildlife populations. (BBC)

Pollinator escalator – MEPs have adopted a resolution on the revised EU Pollinators Initiative, which calls for increased action to reverse the decline of pollinators such as bees. They voted in favour of the motion by 65 to one, with three abstentions, on Tuesday. The politicians called on the EU Commission to enable a transition towards a more holistic environmental risk assessment of pesticides, while underlining that biodiversity loss must be addressed beyond protected areas. (European Parliament)

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