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TOP STORY

UK-France biodiversity credit panel calls for views on pricing, stewardship, offsets

A UK-French led initiative on an international biodiversity credit market has launched a ‘call for views’ to help it address the challenges in scaling the market on topics including pricing, stewardship, and offsets.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Only four of biggest companies have no-deforestation policy across whole supply chain, Ceres says

Just four of 53 of the world’s biggest companies most at-risk from deforestation loss have a policy on the topic covering their entire supply chains, non-profit Ceres has found.

Three-quarters of climate finance group members lack deforestation policies, report finds

Only a quarter of the financial institutions who are members of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) or Race to Zero have at least one deforestation policy for a high-risk commodity, according to a report released Monday.

Responsible mining commission backed by $11 trillion of investors

The Global Investor Commission on Mining has been backed by 82 investors with over $11 trillion in assets collectively under management, with the aim of making the sector more socially and environmentally responsible by 2030.

TOOLS & GUIDANCE

Study warns against overreliance on IUCN Red List in conservation policies, funding

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is incomplete, partially outdated, and has several other limitations suggesting it should not play the critical role it does in determining conservation policy-making and funding for governments, NGOs, and philanthropists, a new study has claimed.

POLICY

France to spend €1 bln in 2024 on biodiversity as part of new strategy

France will inject €1 billion into funding biodiversity protection and restoration next year as part of a 40-part national biodiversity strategy unveiled Monday.

Groups call on Australia to set up A$5-bln fund to buy and protect biodiversity-rich land

Australia should set up a $5-billion ($3.3 bln) fund dedicated to buying up land of high biodiversity value to ensure it meets its commitments under the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), a green group-led initiative said Monday.

SCIENCE & TECH

Swedish drone firm gets €2.7-mln grant to “transform” forestry

A Swedish drone firm has been granted a €2.7-million grant by the government for a three-year project to refine forest-thinning technology it says will reduce the need for energy intensive, habitat-wrecking heavy machinery on the ground.

MARKET

Verry dependable – Carbon credit certifier Verra on Monday announced its new REDD methodology for protecting forests, saying it hopes it will bring more dependable results, increase confidence and trust in the market, and create a pipeline of natural climate solutions. The methodology moves away from site-specific projects to jurisdictions, in a shift that should increase collaboration with governments, it said. (Carbon Pulse)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Join the club – Indonesia-based nature venture builder Terratai has joined the Nature Investor Circle, a group established in September consisting of early-stage investors and others with a stated intention of catalysing nature positive investments. Launched by NatureFinance, the group also counts Planet A, Superorganism, ETH Zurich, Silverstrand Capital, and The Landbanking Group among its members. The news came just a day after Terratai announced it had struck a $2-mln partnership with UBS Optimus Foundation and the Swiss Re Foundation.

Setting up shop – UK-headquartered ecosystem measurement and valuation company Okala has established an office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it announced this week, following it establishing itself in Gabon. Last month, NatureMetrics’ sector head for carbon metrics, NBS, and forestry, Stefanie Kaiser, left NatureMetrics to join Okala in a role as senior environmental markets strategist.

POLICY

Priorities – In Canada, Alberta’s energy regulator has opened the door for expansion of Suncor’s Fort Hills oilsands mine, following a dispute that has been before the regulators for more than two decades. It unlocks an estimated billion barrels of bitumen. But scientists say it is also likely to doom a peat-producing wetland featuring long strings of trees and shrubs separated by narrow pools. The area is host to 20 rare or endangered plant species and more than 200 species of migratory birds, including endangered whooping cranes. (The Canadian Press)

Crime fighting – India’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement network, TRAFFIC India, and WWF India have teamed up in a project seeking to strengthen and build capacity among law enforcement agencies in Bhutan, India, and Nepal to fight wildlife crime. The region has seen an increase in poaching that threatens local species, and has also become a transit hub for illegal wildlife trade, according to a statement from WWF.

Forest pipeline – The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) has partnered with the Ugandan National Forestry Authority on conserving biodiversity in a forest reserve crossed by the pipeline, according to Ugandan magazine The Independent. EACOP will use biodiversity offsets as part of its commitment to meeting the International Finance Corporation (IFC) standards on international best practice methodology to ‘avoid, minimize, restore, offset’.

SCIENCE & TECH

Could do much better – A quarter of the world’s deep-sea hydrothermal vents are currently under conservation intervention, but only 8% benefit from full protection, found a study published in the journal Nature this week. For most of them, the current conservation remain fragmented and discordant across jurisdictions and biogeographical provinces, resulting in overall insufficient protection, especially in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, the study found.

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