A Swedish exchange offering trade in biodiversity credits on Tuesday announced its first transaction, with a sales and marketing firm picking up units from the protection of an 11-hectare forest area for five years.
Devi Group bought the credits from forest cooperative Orsa Besparingsskog in Central Sweden on the Treebula platform, with the units generated using a methodology developed by Qarlbo Biodiversity, the parties announced.
“It’s fantastic that we now have a solid ‘proof of concept’ after several years of development,” said Aleksandra Holmlund, CEO at Qarlbo Biodiversity, who has led the methodology development that last year saw Swedbank make an initial pilot purchase.
“Swedish forest owners can now sell biodiversity credits, and companies of all kinds can purchase them. This demonstrates that forest conservation and restoration can be transformed into a viable financial instrument. I believe biodiversity credits will now attract many more responsible companies.”
Qarlbo revamped its methodology earlier this year, and the number of credits involved in the transaction will depend on the results achieved by the project over the five-year period covered by the deal. The forest is home to the endangered spring pasqueflower, and ensuring the spread of that is one of the targets of the project.
The parties did not disclose the transaction price.
While the emerging voluntary biodiversity credit market has attracted a lot of interest over the past couple of years, market activity has been limited as potential buyers have hesitated to turn their curiosity into actual demand.
Although limited in size, Tuesday’s news will likely inject some optimism into the market.
“This is a new and innovative way to both strengthen biodiversity while also providing us forest owners with a financial return on our efforts,” said Per Eriksson, CEO at sellers Orsa Besparingsskog.
Orsa is one of five new pilot projects launched this year under the Qarlbo methodology, slated to run for 20 years.
“We are a small company, but our ambition to contribute to a sustainable future is enormous. At Devi, it’s not just about generating profits, but also about making an impact and creating real change,” said Arez Hossein, CEO of buyer Devi Group, a Stockholm-headquartered sales and marketing firm with some 110 employees.
“I am immensely proud that we have taken this step and hope we can inspire more companies to do the same.”
Via the Treebula platform, interested observers can track the project’s achievements and verified results over time.
By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com
*** Click here to sign up to our twice-weekly biodiversity newsletter ***
