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TOP STORY
Plan Vivo launches biodiversity certificates methodology with new habitat metric
A standard for verifying biodiversity certificates, said to be the first of its kind, has been launched by certifier Plan Vivo with the addition of a new habitat metric.
COP28
Colombia applies to host COP16 biodiversity conference
Colombia has officially announced its interest in hosting the COP16 UN biodiversity conference next year, with onlookers welcoming the move.
UK announces next wave of plans for marine net gain
The UK government is commissioning the evidence it needs to take its marine net gain (MNG) proposals to the next stage, following a consultation.
Nature damaging finance outweighs positive contributions by more than 30 to 1
Global public and private funding that has a detrimental impact on nature stands at a massive $7 trillion per year, while funding with a positive impact last year reached $200 billion, UNEP said in its annual State of Finance for Nature report, released Saturday.
Multilateral development banks release common nature-positive finance principles
The world’s major multilateral development banks on Saturday launched a first common set of principles to track nature-finance positive as part of a move to scale up and mainstream activities that protect and restore nature and biodiversity.
Australia needs to fund Nature Repair Market pilot projects to instil confidence
The Australian government should fund demonstration projects that will generate biodiversity certificates in its Nature Repair Market scheme in order to generate interest and understanding among potential participants, experts said on the side lines of the COP28 conference.
Canada to legislate nature accountability
Canada plans to next year introduce legislation that would hold the government accountable for making progress towards and meeting its commitments on nature and biodiversity, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced Saturday.
Over 30 countries back global initiative to protect, restore freshwater
More than 30 countries announced this weekend they had joined the Freshwater Challenge, meaning nations home to around a third of global freshwater resources now have joined the efforts to protect and restore the world’s rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
First Zambian green bond will benefit biodiversity, BIOFIN says
A Zambian energy company will issue a $54 million tranche of a green bond programme, the first from a firm in the country, by the end of the year with indirect benefits for forests.
Nations to review debt interplay with nature, climate
Colombia, Kenya, and France on Monday said they will launch an expert review of the relationship between, debt, nature loss, and climate change in a bid to better position nations to solve the three major crises.
Honduras strengthens commitments to combat illegal deforestation, cattle ranching in Moskitia forest
The government of President Xiomara Castro in Honduras has unveiled an initiative renewing and strengthening its commitments to protect the biosphere of Platano River and the Moskitia forest at COP28 in Dubai.
Global Stocktake talks must address nature, WWF says
Nature is not sufficiently addressed in the draft text of COP28’s Global Stocktake, with countries needing to better integrate their national biodiversity and climate plans, WWF has said.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
Mirova invests in biodiversity credit developer, plans new $350 mln sustainable land strategy
Investment manager Mirova has invested in a Colombia-based developer of biodiversity credits as part of the final deployment of its Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) strategy, while at the same time announcing plans to raise $350 million for a new sustainable land management strategy.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
Coastal boost – In Scotland, local wildlife is set to get a boost over the next 18 months as the University of St Andrews teams up with local landowners on an ambitious programme to restore a network of wildlife habitats along the Fife coast. Collaborating with a range of partners including Fife Council, Kinkell Byre, Abbeyford Leisure, Forest & Land Scotland, Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews Botanic Garden, local farmers and estate managers, the university will support action at 30 sites along the coast. Activities include planting trees and hedgerows, creating wetlands and meadows, restoring dunes and introducing conservation grazing to manage coastal grassland on part of the coastal path at Craig Hurtle south of East Sands beach.
TNFD gift-wrapped – TNFD released a series of accessible guides for executives at companies and financial institutions to use in workshops called ‘TNFD in a Box’. Three documents are available now covering an overview of the taskforce, its recommendations, and the nature-business nexus. Two more documents will follow next month. They are aimed at boards and users who need less detail, it said.
Nature targeted – More than 150 businesses and financial institutions have announced plans to set climate and nature targets under the Science-Based Target Network and Science-Based Target International’s Forest Land and Agriculture frameworks, according to the COP28 website. Under these frameworks, businesses agree to increase investments in nature-based solutions while assessing their nature-related impacts through the TNFD.
POLICY
Nature-climate statement – 18 countries including China, the USA, Germany, the UAE and Brazil signed the COP28 Joint Statement On Climate, Nature And People. The five-point statement aims to foster stronger cooperation between national climate and biodiversity plans, while scaling investment in the area, though it lacked any concrete time-bound commitments.
Going for it – At COP28 in Dubai, Nigeria, Liberia, Samoa, and Sierra Leone launched a Ministerial Alliance for Nature Finance. The new alliance’s ambition is to contribute to meeting the biodiversity finance target of $20 bln annually by 2025, agreed in Montreal last year.
Topping up – The Norwegian government has donated 20 mln NOK ($1.83 mln) to the Blue Action Fund to help protect vulnerable coastal and marine areas, it announced at COP28 in Dubai on Saturday. That takes its total donations to the fund over the past two years to 100 mln NOK. Norway also said it would contribute $50 mln to the Amazon Fund, its first contribution since 2018, in recognition of Brazilian President Lula’s efforts to end deforestation.
More wood – Some 17 countries have endorsed a statement supporting the need to use sustainable timber in construction as a decarbonisation strategy by 2030. Australia, Canada, UK, USA and Ghana were among the signatories to the statement, released at an event hosted by the Forests and Climate Leaders Partnership at COP28.
DRC forest – The Democratic Republic of Congo is partnering with dClimate, a US data infrastructure company, to protect the Congo Basin rainforest through carbon finance. The partnership aims to preserve 500,000 ha, sequestering 100 mln tons of CO2.
SCIENCE & TECH
IUCN Red List – Some 44,016 species are endangered, according to the IUCN’s update of its Red List of Threatened Species. The list included the first global freshwater fish assessment, showing that around a fifth of those assessed, 3,086 out of 14,898, are at risk of extinction. Key issues affecting fish include rising sea levels, shifting seasons, pollution, dams, and overfishing. The Atlantic salmon moved from ‘least concern’ to ‘near threatened’ on the list.
Manning the groves – 30 countries have joined the UAE and Indonesia’s Mangrove Alliance for Climate since its COP27 launch, taking the total number of members to 37 with collective land covering over 60% of the world’s mangroves, according to the COP28 website. Furthermore, 21 countries endorsed the separate UN-backed Mangrove Breakthrough initiative, which aims to restore 15 mln ha of mangroves by 2030.
WWF risks – WWF has launched a feature in its Risk Filter Suite tool to understand national biodiversity risks. Building on the tool’s water risk feature for countries, the Biodiversity Risk Country Profiles aspect shows a nation’s physical and reputation risks from biodiversity. It has produced rankings from ‘very low’ to ‘very high’ for eight different factors that are comparable between countries.
Science-based navigator – A tool for guiding companies and financial institutions on how to take action for nature and climate together has been launched by Global Commons Alliance network and UN High-Level Climate Champions. The “first-of-its kind” Accountability Navigator provides direction for organisations to take action toward nature positive, net-zero goals, drawing from the processes of the Science Based Targets Network and Science Based Targets initiative.
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