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TOP STORY
PREVIEW: COP16 ‘temperature check’ for world’s pledges on nature
Delegates from nearly 200 countries will gather in Colombia at the end of this month for the COP16 biodiversity summit, in what observers call “a temperature check” for the world’s pledges on nature, amid political divisions on finance mobilisation threatening to hamper the implementation of the landmark Global Biodiversity Framework.
MARKET
INTERVIEW: African pilots plan to generate biodiversity credits across 300,000 ha
An initiative to generate biodiversity credits across more than 300,000 hectares in Uganda and Zambia has been speaking with authorities about creating enabling policy, Carbon Pulse has learned.
INTERVIEW: Small sites should be exempt from biodiversity net gain
The English biodiversity net gain (BNG) small sites exemption should be expanded, as minor developers are disproportionately affected, a consultant told Carbon Pulse, contrasting calls to move in the opposite direction.
Civil society organisations worldwide urge not to be ‘fooled’ by biodiversity credits
Over 270 civil society organisations and academics from around the world have penned a statement against the use of biodiversity credits and offsets, warning that market-based mechanisms pose significant risks to ecosystems and communities.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
BNP Paribas, French NGO launch impact loan vehicle for coral reef conservation, target $35 mln
A French NGO has partnered with a business accelerator managed by BNP Paribas to launch an impact loan facility for scaling blended finance towards marine conservation efforts in the Global South, aiming to raise $35 million.
Nature-positive insurance practices gain traction, but faster integration needed, report says
The concept of nature-positive insurance is building momentum in Australia as a way to address insurability challenges, but work must be done more quickly to integrate these practices more broadly, a report published Friday urged.
TOOLS & GUIDANCE
Nature Positive Initiative launches nine draft indicators
The influential Nature Positive Initiative has launched a first set of nine draft nature indicators, with the aim of building consensus on measuring progress towards nature positive.
BNG metric fails to capture invertebrate biodiversity, study says
The metric used for implementing England’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) policy does not accurately capture invertebrate biodiversity abundance, a pre-print paper has suggested.
Proposed nature metrics need to be more rigorous, global nature summit hears
A proposed biodiversity measuring metric initiative needs to factor in the interplay of climate change and proposed actions, rather than simply focusing on observing changes, an expert told the Global Nature Positive Summit in Sydney Tuesday.
More than 6 mln ha of forests lost last year raise concerns over 2030 global targets, report says
Global deforestation rates are on the rise despite international high-level commitments towards 2030, with a loss of over 6 million hectares of forests only in 2023, according to an annual assessment released Tuesday.
Australia has done nothing to reverse nature-harming govt subsidies, report finds
Australia spends around 50 times more on subsidising activities that harm the environment than it spends on helping it, according to a first-of-its kind report examining government payments published Monday.
POLICY
Quebec announces C$922 mln biodiversity action plan
The government of Quebec, in Canada, has announced a C$922 million ($676 mln) action plan to advance nature protection and restoration across the province.
Western Australian govt announces first nature tech accelerator cohort
The government of Western Australia announced Friday the first cohort of six early-stage nature tech startups that will receive seed capital and expert support to scale their businesses under a newly launched accelerator programme.
UPDATE – Australia expands ocean protection as first Global Nature Positive Summit kicks off
The Australian government has expanded its protected waters, now protecting more marine areas than any other nation on Earth, it said as it hosts the first Global Nature Positive Summit in Sydney.
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EVENTS
ecology calling brings London’s thriving nature markets and biodiversity community together for series II. Evening events are held in the Linnean Society of London’s Meeting Room from 17:30-20:00. Panel discussions by leaders in the field provide plenty of room for audience Q&A, with further networking opportunities at the pub afterwards. Upcoming discussions include: Oct. 9: Frontiers in Nature-Finance, Oct. 16: Greenwashing and greenhushing, Nov. 19: Translating four-letter acronyms into action: TNFD, CSRD. Use the ‘pulse20’ code now to secure your discount on tickets.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
MARKET
High-integrity dilemma – Determining “high integrity” in nature-based credits remains a major challenge even with ongoing reforms to carbon standards, experts told an industry conference on Wednesday. Standards agencies are updating methodologies after many years of concerns about the integrity of nature-based carbon credits, with observers long criticising the ability of methodologies to ensure credit permanence and additionality, and limit the risk of carbon leakage. (Carbon Pulse).
Quality check – The quality of carbon credits generated by forest carbon projects in Mexico is not meeting the market’s new demands for high quality offsets, a Mexican project consulting firm said Thursday. BRET Consultores, a nature-based carbon project solutions developer based in Mexico City, told project developers that aspects that increase a credit’s value – such as traceability and community inclusion – need to be integrated into the early planning process stages. (Carbon Pulse)
BUSINESS & FINANCE
On the rise – The number of Australian companies committed to reporting their impacts and dependencies on nature under the TNFD framework has risen to 23, the task force announced Monday. These include Qantas, Telstra, Brambles, Bank Australia, EnergyAustralia, GPT Group, Lion, and Blackmores. To date, over 440 businesses and financial institutions worldwide have announced their intention to begin adopting the TNFD recommendations. The task force plans to announce the third cohort of companies at the UN COP16 biodiversity summit, to be held in Cali, Colombia, over Oct. 21-Nov. 1.
Positive paths – WWF-UK and insurer Aviva have outlined the case for the development of UK government-endorsed nature positive sectoral pathways in a report, to try to boost private-public involvement. Such national pathways are strategies designed to guide policymakers and the private sector on how economic sectors should support GBF targets, and the country’s NBSAP, through 2030 and beyond. “An overarching framework will ensure the required actions across the whole economy add up to sufficient change,” it said.
POLICY
Peatlands awards – In Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has awarded £2.7 mln to five non-profits to develop peatland restoration projects across the country and the border region, as part of a programme of cooperation with Ireland and Scotland. “The projects awarded funding will restore peatland habitats, build capacity for sustaining this progress, and inform and engage the public with the knowledge of the enormous importance of peatlands to our environment,” environmental minister Andrew Muir said.
SCIENCE & TECH
Circular economy – The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Danish think tank Circular Innovation Lab have announced an initiative seeking to boost efforts in tackling plastic pollution, Anadolu news agency reported. Supported by the Turkish government, the initiative aims to promote partnerships across the value chain as well as advance dialogue on the circular economy.
Dry me a river – Rivers dried up at the highest rate in three decades last year, putting global water supply at risk, The Guardian has reported. In 2023, over 50% of global river catchment areas experienced abnormal conditions, according to the World Meteorological Organization data. Severe drought and low river discharge affected vast regions of the Americas, with record low levels in the Amazon and Mississippi rivers. In Asia and Oceania, the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mekong rivers also had lower-than-normal conditions.
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