Australia on Wednesday released its second public consultation on Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs), saying they might be approved for biodiversity crediting under the nation’s Nature Repair Market (NRM).
Following up on last year’s collection of views from the public, the Labor government is seeking to finalise its framework for establishing OECMs as part of efforts to meet its 30% terrestrial and marine protection target under the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
The consultation paper showed that OECMs – or Conserved Areas, as the government calls it, in contrast to officially protected areas – might also be deemed eligible to generate credits under the NRM, which remains in development after being legislated in December.
“Subject to the views of the Nature Repair Committee, a method could be developed to deliver a Conserved Area. A Conserved Area method would reflect the national OECM framework requirements, and as such, could be considered and developed once the framework is agreed,” the paper said.
“Methods would set out requirements to demonstrate the project was unlikely to have occurred otherwise (often referred to as ‘additionality’), and how biodiversity gain would be measured and monitored.”
OECMs are areas that protect and conserve nature even though that might not be their primary objective, or the owner for various reasons might not want it officially recognised as a protected area.
Public parks, research forests, and freshwater resources protected by food and drink producers for water quality purposes are examples of OECMs.
First defined by the IUCN, OECMs were included in the GBF as measures that will count towards national targets if the areas are registered in the global OECM database.
However, they are controversial in some quarters, with critics saying that relying on OECMs means governments and companies will have to take less action to meet their goals than would otherwise be the case.
At the moment, only a dozen or so countries have OECM projects registered in the world database, but a number of nations globally are in the process of developing national frameworks, with the IUCN in particular pushing the concept in developing nations.
Japan has said OECMs will play a key role in its GBF efforts, and the country will issue ‘biodiversity support certificates’ to companies that help finance or otherwise assist such areas, which they can use for reporting purposes under initiatives like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
The Australian consultation paper on Wednesday confirmed that the government intends to report any project meeting domestic OECM framework standards to the global database.
OECMs are emerging as a potentially significant supplier of biodiversity credits globally, with Colombia-based crediting standard Cercarbono last week including OECMs registered in the world database as among eligible activities to earn its Voluntary biodiversity Credits (VBCs).
Australia’s consultation on an OECM framework will run until Apr. 17, though the decision on whether to allow them into the NRM will fall on the Nature Repair Committee, and is in itself not part of the consultation.
It is unclear when the final regulations for the NRM will emerge, though observers say the government is likely eager to have the scheme in place before it hosts the Global Nature Positive Summit in Sydney on Oct. 8-10 in the run-up to biodiversity COP16 in Colombia later that month.
By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com
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