Innovating in biodiversity credits

The Biodiversity Consultancy collaborates with Verra to develop the Nature Framework.

In collaboration with The Biodiversity Consultancy, Verra launched the first version of the Nature Framework on 29th October 2024.  

There is a massive funding gap in nature conservation. Current flows are estimated at $200 billion annually, one-third of the level needed to reach ambitious targets on biodiversity, climate, and land degradation.  

The Verra Nature Framework is intended to address this gap by enabling project developers to quantify gains in biodiversity across a wide range of conservation and restoration projects around the world. A Nature Credit represents one percent of net biodiversity outcomes, measured in quality hectares (Qha), generated during a monitoring period due to the project intervention. 

The framework requires project developers to quantify what the biodiversity outcomes would have been in the absence of the project by comparing the intervention's outcomes to the predicted in trends in those of areas comparable to the project areas, which serves as a crediting baseline. Crucially, the crediting baseline is then updated based on what actually happened in comparable areas.  

This pragmatic approach for crediting baselines incentivises action in the places where biodiversity is most at risk and enables ongoing projects in data-limited contexts to access biodiversity finance. 

Companies can buy Nature Credits to support nature conservation and restoration projects, contributing to the closing of the funding gap for biodiversity and ensuring that these activities have positive outcomes for nature.  

Additionally, buying Nature Credits could help companies to invest in ecosystems that their businesses depend on.

Categories: Financial Services, Company news, Nature Positive