A voluntary carbon standard plans to issue its first batch of biodiversity credits generated through two separate projects in Latin America by the end of the year, a company executive told Carbon Pulse.

BioCarbon will use its own methodology for biodiversity credits to validate the projects, with units expected to be publicly listed on a registry platform.

“We have two projects in Argentina and Mexico that we plan to enlist. They’re still in the process, but hopefully, at the end of this year, we will have issued our first biodiversity credits,” Viviana Cardozo, biodiversity programme officer at BioCarbon, told Carbon Pulse, preferring not to disclose further details on the projects.

“Being based also in Latin America, we have a deep understanding of the ecosystems here, and we understand our people. That’s a huge advantage.”

Updated in February, BioCarbon’s methodology for biodiversity credits applies to terrestrial ecosystems, wetlands, and mangroves, and offsetting projects are not eligible.

Under the framework, biodiversity gains are measured through combining 15 indicators, ranging from landscape composition to species richness.

The overall increase in biodiversity is then multiplied by the hectares of the project area, determining the number of credits that can be issued every year.

“Our methodology leverages a set of measurable scientific indexes that are used worldwide, such as the Alpha diversity index for species richness and conservation status indexes based on the IUCN Red List,” said Cardozo.

“These indexes describe the key elements of the landscape and are grouped into categories to give robustness to the calculation.”

Project developers must monitor biodiversity outcomes and submit assessments to an independent third party tasked with certifying the credits.

The certification body is picked by the project developer from those accredited by the standard – currently, NaturaCert and Ceres.

“These certification bodies are not the same ones as in carbon. Both NaturaCert and Ceres have experience in the biodiversity space at a global level,” said Cardozo.

SEPARATE REGISTRIES

Cardozo said BioCarbon will list biodiversity credits on a registry platform launched in March and provided by Global Carbon Trace.

“We already have over 60 enlisted projects in carbon. Biodiversity credits will be listed on a separate registry set up by the same provider,” she said.

“Our aim is to disclose all information and ensure it is publicly available on this platform to avoid double counting and other transparency issues.”

Although corporate demand in the voluntary market is yet to pick up on a significant scale, in part due to a lack of education and awareness of the space compared to the carbon markets, Cardozo is confident that the initiative has the potential to spark interest among buyers.

“The interest is there. People do want to learn more about it, and hopefully this is going to be reflected in the prices of the market,” she said.

Early biodiversity credit initiatives so far have yielded erratic prices, reflecting the diverse nature of each unit.

Many carbon developers have set sight on the nascent market but have not yet the confidence to foray into the biodiversity space, with some stressing the need for more robust information on the reference price of biodiversity credits.

“We expect the prices to be twice what carbon prices are right now,” Cardozo said.

By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com

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