Accounting for Nature (AFN) and the University of Oxford have launched a research collaboration to expand nature monitoring globally, with a particular focus on the UK and European contexts.

By combining the scientific expertise of the University of Oxford with AFN’s knowledge of nature accounting, the collaboration aims to set new robust and science-based standards for nature management and reporting, providing guidelines for policymakers and organisations.

The group will develop a framework for determining a baseline within different ecosystems, widely considered one of the main challenges in the nature space.

“Developing a standardised approach for measuring biodiversity that can support global policy, organisational strategies, and national reporting is a huge and vitally important challenge,” EJ Milner-Gulland, professor of biodiversity at the University of Oxford, said in a statement.

“Methods are needed that are grounded in real data collected at the local level, with measurements based on tested scientific methods.”

The team will also support companies and other stakeholders in identifying and addressing nature-related risks and opportunities, as required by new directives such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and emerging voluntary frameworks, including the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations.

“This collaboration with Accounting for Nature further cements the University of Oxford’s role informing environmental accounting in the UK and Europe, with the long-term aim of ensuring that nature positive claims are evidence-based,” Molly Grace, lecturer in ecology and conservation at the University of Oxford, added.

AFN is an Australian nonprofit focused on accrediting and verifying credible and transparent state-of-nature measures, with the aim of enabling landholders, investors, and governments to make informed decisions that contribute to improve biodiversity worldwide.

In recent months, collaborations between Australian and European organisations have emerged, seeking to bolster conservation and restoration efforts under the EU’s Nature Restoration Law and other global frameworks.

In July, Judith Fisher, a professor at the University of Western Australia, told Carbon Pulse her methodology for measuring biodiversity baseline had been implemented by Italy-based nonprofit We are Here Venice (WahV) in an effort to protect Venice’s saltmarsh ecosystems.

The methodology is also in the process of being accredited under the AFN framework, a move that will help WahV to scale investments through a biodiversity crediting scheme, Fisher said.

By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com

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