A Mexican investment firm has partnered with a France-based environmental company to pre-purchase biodiversity, water, and carbon credits worth $25,000, Carbon Pulse has learned.
Mexico City-headquartered LGL Investments will buy the credits to support the development of up to three projects to be identified by Nat5, which will assess biodiversity and carbon uplift through applying its own methodologies.
While the agreement does not determine the investment share for each credit type, the bulk will go towards biodiversity credits, according to Guillermo Hinojos, founder of Nat5.
“LGL Investments asked us to ensure that the credits meet high-quality criteria and that the agreed price is respected,” he told Carbon Pulse.
“Other than that, we’re free to suggest the allocation for each type of credit. The aim is that most of this first $25,000 investment, or even all of it, are put on biodiversity credits.”
Nat5 is currently in the process of selecting eligible projects, most likely located in Mexico and Portugal, as well as the third-party verification bodies that will be tasked with certifying the credits, Hinojos said.
Rather than seek issuance under an established carbon or environmental credit standard, Nat5 will mint its own units using the Ases On-Chain Protocol (aOCP) framework developed by its parent company, the Franco-Mexican ecological engineering firm Ases.
NEWLY PILOTED METHODOLOGIES
Nat5 piloted its biodiversity credit methodology for nature conservation and restoration projects in May at three sites in the Mexican states of Durango, Oaxaca, and Chihuahua.
The company, which also offers nature-based carbon credits via its website, launched a separate project in Chihuahua to pilot its water credit methodology, which was greenlit by an academic body at the Faculty of Zootechnics and Ecology of Mexico’s Autonomous University of Chihuahua.
“This collaboration is a unique opportunity to diversify our portfolio,” said Luca Pastorello, president of LGL Investments.
“The pre-purchase of credits allows us to secure preferential pricing and, at the same time, be part of the global solution for the preservation of the planet.”
Under the partnership, LGL Investments will also support a programme that aims to halt the net loss of biodiversity by 2030 in Mexico, while developing nature markets including biodiversity credits with regional governments.
Dubbed NetPositive 2030, the initiative was announced last month by Nat5 and consultancy MexHub, with two Mexican states involved so far.
The programme will seek to establish ecological project incubators, supported by Switzerland-based nature value chain certifier Integrity Certificates and backed by private and institutional investors.
By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com
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