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TOP STORY

FEATURE: EU advisory group resources are limiting biodiversity work for taxonomy

The ability of the influential Platform on Sustainable Finance (PSF) to fulfil its mission of helping to enhance the EU Taxonomy, in areas including biodiversity, is hindered by its reliance on volunteer labour, a member of the group has told Carbon Pulse.

MARKET

European Investment Bank to back French voluntary biodiversity credits

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has teamed up with a Paris-based consultancy firm to help scale voluntary biodiversity credit transactions in France, with a view to backing the market uptake across the EU.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Nature finance provides grounds for optimism, investor says

Markets for nature finance offer reasons for confidence, despite the US rollback of nature-focused programmes, in areas such as compliance biodiversity markets, according to an investor.

Norwegian startup secures €3.7 mln to address biodiversity, climate risks in real estate sector

A Norwegian startup has raised €3.7 million in seed funding to advance its platform aimed at enabling European real estate companies to manage biodiversity- and climate-related risks.

Environmental impact fund raises €300 mln at first close

A French asset manager announced this week that it has secured €300 million for an impact fund investing in solutions to mitigate biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change.

WWF launches Deforestation-Free Leather Fund with $10 mln target

WWF has launched a fund that seeks to galvanise collective action to tackle Brazilian deforestation and land degradation in leather supply chains with a target raise of $10 million within three years.

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

MARKET

Rating watch – BeZero Carbon has placed a Brazil-based forestry project on ‘rating watch’ following new information from the project developer. The London-based carbon ratings agency is reassessing the VCS 2551 Amazon APD Grouped Project’s ‘BBB’ rating after the developer provided new details on the authorisations for vegetation suppression and the construction of baseline deforestation rates, as well as an expanded list of properties for leakage monitoring. BeZero’s review will assess whether these new details significantly alter the project’s risk profile, with a particular focus on the implications for the credits issued and the overall environmental impact. (Carbon Pulse)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Disclosures – The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has called for feedback on its sector guidance for marine transportation and cruise lines. The document, designed to help companies apply the LEAP approach and disclose sector-specific metrics in line with the TNFD recommendations, will be open for consultation until Apr. 4, the organisation said in a post on LinkedIn.

Roundtable – The UN Global Compact and Principles for Responsible Investment convened a roundtable in Singapore bringing together CEOs, CFOs, and institutional investors to boost corporate action on biodiversity in the Asia-Pacific region. The meeting concluded with a call for businesses and investors to align corporate financial strategies with sustainability-related factors, while advancing reporting on biodiversity- and climate-related financial risks.

TOOLS & GUIDANCE

Toolkit – The Netherlands-based Global Center on Adaptation has launched a set of tools to help investors identify opportunities in nature-based solutions for infrastructure globally. The toolkit combines earth observation data, ecological insights, and financial analysis to provide insights on financial returns and biodiversity benefits, said Nicola Ranger, researcher at centre partner University of Oxford on LinkedIn. It includes a Global Tool for Nature-based Solutions to support the integration of nature-based solutions into infrastructure planning.

POLICY

Kenyan resources – The government of Kenya published regulations on biodiversity protection and pollution control on Wednesday with enhanced regulations on genetic resources. Measures include clear guidelines on permits for companies seeking access to Kenya’s biological resources, stronger protections for Indigenous knowledge, and alignment with the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing to promote ethical resource use.

PROJECTS

In the bank – A biodiversity net gain (BNG) project in England has listed 170 off-site units on the government’s register of BNG initiatives. The Wealden Habitat Bank from Nature Impact spans over 20 ha of underutilised pastureland and ancient woodland. The project is the first of two Nature Impact sites to go live on the register, Tom Nelson, co-founder of the company said on LinkedIn. The government register now has 53 entries, just over one year after the policy came into force.

Trees please – Canada is putting C$49 mln ($34.2 mln) to increase tree numbers in Montreal, Quebec in partnership with non-profit Regroupement des Eco-quartiers. The city wants to plant 500,000 trees on the Island of Montreal by 2030. The federal funding will go towards 300,000 trees to be planted on public lands, alongside a city commitment to plant 200,000 on private and institutional properties. Through the programme, Montreal residents can get low-cost trees suited to their urban environment, along with support in planting and maintaining them.

SCIENCE & TECH

Mammoth mice – Scientists at US biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences are making progress on their plan to revive the woolly mammoth – by creating woolly-haired, cold-tolerant mice. The result strengthens their confidence in gene-editing techniques, The Guardian reported. By genetically modifying Asian elephants to develop mammoth-like traits, the scientists hope to see the first calf by the end of 2028.

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