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Presenting Biodiversity Pulse, Carbon Pulse’s free newsletter on the biodiversity market. It’s a twice-weekly summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. Subscribe here
TOP STORY
FEATURE: Major Canadian bill paves way for setting aside environmental protections
Canada’s federal government is days away from rubberstamping new powers that will allow it to opt out of the country’s core environmental protection policies to approve unnamed “national interest projects”, experts say.
MARKET
INTERVIEW: UK business initiative sees ‘huge potential’ for nature credits
A UK initiative seeking to ramp up corporate action on biodiversity is taking steps to integrate nature credits into its strategy, as it sees great potential for the market to unlock private financing across the country, its co-founder told Carbon Pulse.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
Investors managing $4 trillion ask companies to phase out hazardous chemicals
Some 43 investors managing over $4 trillion in assets sent a statement on Thursday to chemical companies, urging them to phase out hazardous chemicals to protect biodiversity.
INTERVIEW: Sea lice treatment emerges as ocean investment trend
Investments in treatment for sea lice in fish farms are among key trends in blue foods financing, which has been boosted by the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC), according to an investor.
Chinese banks partner with tech major to mobilise private capital in nature-based solutions
Three China-based banks have signed letters of intent to support an initiative aimed at scaling up investments in nature infrastructure, conservation, and nature-based solutions in the country.
Europe’s biggest firms largely overlook biodiversity financial risks -report
Only 16% of the 50 largest European energy and manufacturing companies currently address the financial impacts of biodiversity loss, which indicates potential blind spots in their risk management strategies, according to a report released this week.
TOOLS & GUIDANCE
Social impact assessment tool launches for carbon, nature projects
A conservation business unveiled a participatory approach for evaluating how projects impact local people on Wednesday at London Climate Action Week (LCAW).
POLICY
Australian organisations call for putting ‘nature positive’ at centre of COP31 agenda
A group of Australian financial institutions, businesses, and environmental organisations has urged the government to put nature-based solutions at the centre of the COP31 agenda, as the country is seen as a front-runner to host the UN climate summit next year.
Switzerland needs $6.5 bln annually to 2050 to meet nature goals, bankers association says
An association of Swiss bankers has released a study estimating that the country’s nature transition requires an investment of CHF 5.3 billion ($6.5 bln) every year to 2050, highlighting a current investment gap of CHF 2.1 bln per year.
UNDP urges India to redirect $25 bln of agricultural subsidies to protect biodiversity
The Indian government should shift its INR 1,980 billion ($25 bln) of annual harmful agricultural subsidies towards practices that benefit biodiversity, a UN Development Programme (UNDP)-backed report said this week.
Alberta commits C$55.8 mln to caribou habitat recovery, reforestation
Alberta will invest C$55.8 million ($40.6 mln) over six years to plant five mln trees and restore critical woodland caribou habitat, the provincial government announced Tuesday.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
BUSINESS & FINANCE
Teaming up – Three China-based banks have signed letters of intent to support an initiative aimed at scaling up investments in nature infrastructure, conservation, and nature-based solutions in the country. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has partnered with Bank of Jiangsu (BOJ), Bank of Huzhou (BOH), and Tencent in an initiative that is part of AIIB’s Nature Finance Accelerator Program. Under the agreements, AIIB will work with the other two banks to support a portfolio of high-impact, nature-related projects aligned with an internationally recognised nature finance taxonomy, the multilateral development bank said in a statement. The projects will be located in the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang on the east coast. (Carbon Pulse)
POLICY
Biodiversity offsetting – Chile’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) climate targets secured Wednesday late-stage approval by a high-level council of ministers, who simultaneously gave the green light to a regulation on biodiversity offsetting. The NDC approved by the Council of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change included new mitigation targets and initiatives, at times retaining and ratcheting up ambition from the prior 2020 Paris Agreement plan. (Carbon Pulse)
Regulating textiles – Textiles were officially designated as a priority product under Chile’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law. The move is expected to advance the sustainable management of textile waste by encouraging its collection, recycling, and valuation. The designation was formalised through the exempt resolution 3914, in line with the law that establishes a national framework for waste management, EPR, and the promotion of recycling.
Financing NBSAPs – A report published this week by UNEP-WCMC outlines how policymakers and financial institutions should work together to harness private finance in delivering National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The report highlights case studies from Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Mexico, and the UK on the use of blended finance, green and blue bonds, debt‑for‑nature swaps, and de‑risking mechanisms to achieve NBSAP targets.
Rollback – The Trump administration is rescinding a 2001 rule that prohibits road construction and timber harvesting on 58.5 mln acres of National Forest System lands. On Monday, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the rollback of the rule during a meeting of the Western Governors’ Association, claiming that it is “overly restrictive” and “outdated”. According to the USDA, about 30% of National Forest System lands are impacted by this rule. The move will open up the nation’s forests, like Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, to “responsible timber production”, the agency said in a press release.
Open call – The government of Ireland has allocated €7 mln to support a project focused on enhancing biodiversity in arable landscapes. The project will be selected through an open call, with applications due by Aug. 8, and be funded for a four-year period between Sep. 2025 and Dec. 2029. The initiative is co-financed by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Albania’s conservation – Albania has said it wants to join the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) green list of protected and conserved areas, a global framework for designating and managing these natural habitats. The country started this process during discussions in Tirana, becoming the first in the Western Balkans to officially begin working with the green list framework. Albania plans to focus first on its Vjosa Wild River National Park in the south of the country, before expanding to include four other national parks in its green list work. The Vjosa national park is home to 13 species classified as globally threatened on the IUCN’s red list, as well as over a thousand other species.
Nature hike – Helsinki launched a nature programme this week with the aim of protecting more than 100 new land and sea areas around the city. The Nature Conservation Area Programme 2025-38 programme will double the protected land area, and increase it by tenfold in marine zones. In addition to safeguarding the diversity of species and habitats, the conservation areas will seek to support hiking opportunities for residents. The city will voluntarily target protecting 30% of its land and sea by 2030.
SCIENCE & TECH
Critically endangered species – Scientists, including several IUCN experts, published Wednesday a review of the state of critically endangered (CR) species in the Nature Reviews Biodiversity journal. Only 16 countries host more than half of the 10,000 CR species. Other 47,000 species are at risk. Protected areas offer refuge, but 40% of CR species demand urgent, species‑specific measures such as ex situ actions and conservation translocations. The study urged increase in political will and financial investment to effectively catalyse the recovery of these species.
Inglorious bustards – More than 500 bird species could vanish within the next century, such as the puffin, European turtle dove, and great bustard, threatening ecosystems worldwide, researchers have said in a paper published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. The researchers have called for urgent programmes, such as captive breeding and habitat restoration, to rescue species, reported The Guardian. Habitat loss emerged as the most significant driver of extinctions.
Back in town – A team of researchers in China has successfully reintroduced petrocosmea grandiflora, an endangered plant once thought lost, into its native habitat in the city of Mengzi, in the Yunnan province, Xinhua news agency reported. The restoration effort was led by the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, part of the Kunming Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in partnership with the local forestry and grassland bureau. The plant was first described in 1895, based on specimens found in Mengzi by Northern Irish plant collector William Hancock.
No highways here – Ducks Unlimited Canada has acquired a little more than 34 ha within Ontario’s Georgian Bay UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The newly conserved Honey Harbour Wetland near Midland includes 13.2 ha of provincially significant wetlands, a crucial migratory stopover for waterfowl, and forested areas. Ducks Unlimited said it supported the landowner in acquiring the property amid increasing development pressure and proximity to nearby highways.
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