Read the Platform’s new Thematic Report: “Pathways for measuring biodiversity outcomes of biodiversity credits”

A new Thematic report has been released to address one of the most pressing challenges in the emerging biodiversity credit market: the lack of credible, standardised approaches to measuring the outcomes of biodiversity credits.

As biodiversity loss accelerates globally, the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) has recognised biodiversity credits as one of the nascent innovative schemes capable of channelling private sector investment into biodiversity. However, owing to the low level of maturity of the voluntary biodiversity credit market, there is limited publicly available information on how to measure their outcomes in a way that ensures high integrity and avoids greenwashing.

The objective of this new Thematic report is to contribute to this discussion by:

• Synthesising existing resources on how to measure biodiversity credits;
• Assessing current practices against internationally recognised best practices in biodiversity measurement;
• Proposing pathways toward standardised, high-integrity measurement approaches.

The report is aimed at policymakers, standard setters, and integrity councils who are exploring the development and implementation of biodiversity credit schemes. It may also be of interest to other stakeholders such as developers of biodiversity credit schemes, public institutions that are considering establishing local biodiversity credit schemes, NGOs, etc. 

This report is aligned with and complementary to the Climate Biodiversity Nexus study, which aims to: a) investigate the potential for the voluntary carbon market (VCM) to contribute to biodiversity conservation and restoration objectives, through implementing high integrity requirements, b) investigate the development of standalone biodiversity credits focusing on market demand and the types of policies and measures that could be put in place to ensure their integrity and enhance the uptake of such credits for conservation and restoration of biodiversity.

With growing initiatives such as the Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA), the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB), and the World Economic Forum (WEF) calling for high-integrity markets, this report offers timely guidance to ensure that biodiversity credits contribute meaningfully to biodiversity conservation and restoration.

Read the report here.