A large private investment house is seeking to scale up investments in nature restoration projects as part of a broader strategy to become a major player in the burgeoning biodiversity market, a company executive said.
Paris-based Ardian announced its partnership with the Organisation for Biodiversity Certificates (OBC), an entity working on a framework for biodiversity certificates.
Ardian manages and advises $164 billion in assets across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, and its move is set to spark interest in the market as ‘nature positive’ gains momentum on the global agenda.
“Ardian aims to be a world leading investor in nature restoration projects,” Candice Brenet, head of sustainability at Ardian, said on LinkedIn.
OBC was founded in 2022 by biodiversity operator Adryada and sustainable agriculture company Le Printemps des Terres. It aims to establish measures and market regulations for biodiversity uplift credits, and enable mixed carbon-biodiversity projects to emerge.
Currently, OBC has 21 members, including project developer South Pole, offset standard Gold Standard, and investment manager Mirova.
Ardian and Adryada partnered last year to launch the Averrhoa Nature-Based Solutions Fund, planning to invest €1.5 bln in forest carbon projects able to sequester an estimated 150 MtCO2.
“The OBC initiative is aligned with Averrhoa Natured-Based Solutions, our strategy dedicated to carbon removal via large-scale nature-based projects,” Ardian stated.
Certificates have drawn increasing attention since the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) recognised in Target 19 the role of biodiversity credits in mobilising private investments towards nature-positive outcomes by assigning an economic value to efforts to restore ecosystems.
“We believe that biodiversity certificates will be a powerful tool in the future for sustainable companies and long-term investors to scale financing of nature-based solutions,” Brenet said.
While the fledgling biodiversity market is still in development, demand for credits has the potential to reach up to $180 bln annually by 2050 in a radical scenario, as estimated by the World Economic Forum (WEF). However, questions remain about the drivers of demand.
A recent survey by the Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA) identified nature targets as the potential core driver of demand for biodiversity credits, as companies can already see the business case for the market.
Also, a global methodology still needs to be developed, with several organisations currently working on how to assess biodiversity uplift.
“High-quality carbon credits have been so far one of the only available tools to finance such projects, which can have a strong positive impact on biodiversity,” Brenet added.
“Biodiversity certificates will be an additional tool in the future, if it is based on a methodology with strong scientific basis, and if it is easy to use for companies. We feel that the project led by OBC can meet these two criteria.”
In November, OBC announced a scientific programme to design a methodology for evaluating the biodiversity benefits of activities, led by the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN), the Fondation pour la Recherche sur la biodiversity, and Paris-based consultancy Carbone 4.
By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com
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