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TOP STORY
Impact Earth plans biodiversity fund of up to $100 mln
Impact Earth is planning to launch a biodiversity fund that raises between $50-100 million focused on either Latin America or Southeast Asia, similar to its existing Amazon strategy, Carbon Pulse has learned.
MARKET
ADB weighs nature credits to fund expansion of migratory bird initiative
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will fund consultancy work to determine the potential of nature or biodiversity credits in funding an expansion of an initiative seeking to protect and restore the massive East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF).
Social Carbon to release methodology for peatland restoration
Carbon standard Social Carbon plans to release a carbon crediting methodology for peatland restoration, with separate modules tailored to different areas, the company has told Carbon Pulse.
Biodiversity net gain opacity threatens nature gains, say experts
Lack of transparency in England’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) scheme is threatening the policy’s ability to demonstrate benefits for nature, a government advisory group said in an open letter.
Report counts 40 challenges for biodiversity net gain scheme
England’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) scheme has 40 challenges across demand, supply, governance, and its metric to sort out for it to become a success, according to a report released this week.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
US asset managers finance deforestation-linked company through ESG funds, report shows
Major US asset managers are channelling millions towards the world’s largest meatpacker allegedly responsible for deforestation, biodiversity loss, and human rights violations through Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) labelled funds, a report has unveiled.
TOOLS & GUIDANCE
UK study flags best-suited indicators for boosting nature positive investments in solar farms
Solar farms have the potential to significantly increase biodiversity in the UK and scale investments in ‘nature positive’, provided that appropriate metrics for evaluation are established, a report has found.
PROJECTS
4,000-ha forest to be protected “forever” after investor transfer
An investor has transferred ownership of an approximately 4,450 hectare forest in the US to non-profits so it can be protected “forever” with benefits for biodiversity, endangered species, and water.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
MARKET
Nature-based – An Australian carbon credit developer with a focus on nature-based solutions has been quietly putting together a pipeline of over 10 projects worth a combined A$50 million ($32.3 mln) with four developers, saying it is approaching the sector in a similar way as traditional infrastructure programmes to ensure finance is scalable as demand grows. Wollemi Capital said its projects will sequester 20 mln tonnes of CO2e over their lifetimes and expect 1 mln trees a year will be planted across 3.5 mln hectares to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU), which are currently valued in the mid-A$30 range but with prices expected to climb in coming years as demand grows. (Carbon Pulse)
BUSINESS & FINANCE
New business – Tokyo Gas and Mizuho Research & Technologies have teamed up to offer consulting services for companies wishing to use the TNFD nature reporting framework, they announced Monday. Going forward, the two plans aim to develop further natural capital and biodiversity solutions. No country has more TNFD sign-ups than Japan, and the environment ministry last week issued a call for expressions of interest to join in a project that will aim to improve the quality and expand the quantity of nature-related disclosures under the TNFD and other organisations.
New Zealand assessment – New Zealand’s biodiversity funding needs will be assessed by the Otago University Business School using the UNDP’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative methodology from 2024 to 2026. The assessment aims to provide insight into the efficiency and scale of investment required, while identifying potential funding sources. The initiative will promote collaboration between the government, the private sector, and non-government organisations.
POLICY
COP threat – A dissident rebel group has withdrawn its threat to disrupt biodiversity summit COP16 in Colombia, which begins in October. The guerrilla faction announced last week it would instruct its militants not to target the negotiations. In July, it issued online statements claiming the summit “would fail,” raising fears of potential attacks on the conference. (Guardian)
No mining code (yet) – The International Seabed Authority (ISA) Assembly meeting ended on Friday with no commercial mining authorised and an unprecedented number of states, 32, calling for a moratorium or precautionary pause, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition has reported. For the first time, the ISA Assembly discussed the possibility of a general policy for the protection and preservation of the marine environment. However, no decision was taken, as a group of states, including China, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Uganda, and Ghana, refused to engage in any talk at this stage.
The EU has a plan – The European Commission has submitted the EU’s plan for implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), covering all goals and targets agreed upon by parties at the 2022 UN biodiversity summit. The plan describes how the bloc plans to contribute to achieving the objectives, mentioning EU legislative and non-legislative policy instruments.
SCIENCE & TECH
Chilling concept – Scientists have proposed preserving material from most species on Earth on the moon. Some of the moon’s craters are cold enough for cryogenic preservation, at minus 246 degrees Celsius, without the need for electricity, according to the researchers. A plan from scientists at the Smithsonian Institution includes governance, types of material to be stored, and experiments.
High-tech towers – The first observation tower has been built in the Antarctic region to monitor biodiversity in and around the centuries-old moss beds, dubbed the “old-growth forests”, the Australian Antarctic Programme has announced. The facility, still in its prototype, is one of a planned 20-strong network forming part of the Antarctic Terrestrial and Nearshore Observing System, a project designed to observe environmental and biological variability and change at important biodiversity sites across Antarctica.
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