NESFAS’ Post

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted in December 2022, sets an ambitious plan to transform our relationship with Nature by 2030. This ground-breaking framework aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, benefiting both people and the planet. At its core, the GBF outlines four long-term goals for 2050, focusing on ecosystem integrity, sustainable use of resources, equitable benefit sharing, and effective implementation. To achieve these goals, the framework lays out 23 action-oriented targets for 2030, addressing major threats to biodiversity such as habitat loss, overexploitation, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. One of the most notable targets is the protection of at least 30% of land and sea areas by 2030, a significant increase from current levels. This "30x30" goal has gained traction globally as a key strategy for preserving Earth's vital ecosystems. The GBF complements the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, recognising that biodiversity conservation is inextricably linked to sustainable development. It calls for urgent, transformative action from governments and society to create a world where we truly live "in harmony with Nature" by 2050. As we face accelerating biodiversity loss worldwide, this framework provides a crucial roadmap for preserving the planet's ecosystems and species. The question now is: how can your organisation contribute to these ambitious yet essential goals? #Biodiversity #Sustainability #ClimateAction https://lnkd.in/dBVYqh26

Work to be done. Great initiative

According to the Global Assessment Report of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, around 25% of species are threatened. Around one million species already face extinction, many within decades, unless action is taken to reduce the intensity of drivers of biodiversity loss. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), also known as the Biodiversity Plan, was adopted by nearly every country in the world at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022. The GBF is a response to the alarming evidence that biodiversity is deteriorating at rates unprecedented in human history. The GBF seeks to address this crisis by setting an ambitious plan to implement broad-based action to bring about a transformation in our societies’ relationship with biodiversity by 2030 and ensure that, by 2050, the shared vision of living in harmony with nature is fulfilled. The GBF aims to catalyse, enable and galvanize urgent and transformative action by governments, subnational and local authorities, with the involvement of all of society, to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The GBF has a clear vision and mission, with a 2050 vision of "a world of living in harmony with nature where biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people." The mission of the framework for the period up to 2030 is "to take urgent action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss to put nature on a path to recovery for the benefit of people and planet by conserving and sustainably using biodiversity and ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources, while providing the necessary means of implementation." Together with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the GBF provides a comprehensive approach to addressing the urgent and pressing issues of biodiversity loss and achieving a sustainable future for all. To learn about the global plan to protect biodiversity, read my article on illuminem. #biodiversity #sustainability #sustainabledevelopment https://lnkd.in/dBVYqh26

Last week’s post discussed the emerging voluntary biodiversity credit market as a mechanism for financing biodiversity protection, regeneration, and stewardship. The Montreal-Kunming Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed upon at COP15, specifically mentions biodiversity credits as a potential tool to mobilize the $200 billion annual target for biodiversity financing. But measuring biodiversity is complex. Unlike carbon credits, which are straightforward—one unit equals one ton of CO2—biodiversity encompasses all living species on Earth, and assessing species richness and diversity over time is no simple task. Various standards and schemes have been proposed. For example, THE OPERATION WALLACEA TRUST methodology defines a biodiversity credit as a 1% uplift in biodiversity, or avoided loss of biodiversity, per hectare, based on a basket of at least 5 metrics reflecting national and local biodiversity targets for specific habitats. That’s just one approach. Pollination’s 2023 State of Voluntary Biodiversity Credits report (Laura Waterford, Veda FitzSimons, Olivia Back) identified 38 different biodiversity credit schemes, but found consistent issues in the majority reviewed, including: 1️⃣ Ecosystem Coverage: Current schemes often focus on terrestrial ecosystems, overlooking coastal, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. 2️⃣ Protected Areas - Many schemes exclude protected areas and High Forest Cover, Low Deforestation countries due to current additionality requirements. 3️⃣ Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPs and LCs) - Despite Indigenous lands containing over 80% of the world’s biodiversity, most schemes lack comprehensive requirements for obtaining free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and don’t require co-ownership, partnership or benefit-sharing. Mongabay has since reported that Savimbo is a notable exception, developed in collaboration with Indigenous leaders. Unlike the Wallacea Trust model, it focuses on one key species to monitor, which is representative of the health of the ecosystem. This simplified approach could enable greater direct participation from Indigenous communities. While achieving consensus on shared definitions and frameworks is challenging, it's only the first step. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post exploring the supply and demand dynamics of this emerging market. #ConservationFinance #BiodiversityCredits

New assessment highlights role of wetlands in National Biodiversity Strategies at COP16 https://lnkd.in/gSzNcK2W

Can anyone point to an in-depth explainer and critique of the net biodiversity gain policy please? Got the below from government but keen to understand what impact it might actually have, not least on the natural capital and biodiversity credit market. Hoping there’s some independent analysis out there that’s worth delving into. Many thanks https://lnkd.in/d4qnRvWB #sustainability #biodiversity

🌿 IPBES 11 in Africa: A Milestone for Global Biodiversity Namibia hosts the first IPBES Plenary in Africa, highlighting the continent’s role as a biodiversity stronghold and a vital player in global conservation efforts. New landmark reports on biodiversity, health, and transformative change to guide future policies.

Thank you for joining us in launching our Biodiversity Impact Assessment Framework (BIAF) - Beta version yesterday! For those who couldn't make it, stay tuned for the recording of the webinar which will be made available publicly soon. It was truly inspiring to see such enthusiasm in transforming how we invest and develop positive projects for nature by bringing clarity to identifying both positive and negative impacts pathways, and estimating the net benefit for biodiversity. BIAF is a framework method based on the biodiversity extent, condition, and significance approach offering full flexibility for estimating benefits to biodiversity from various business models and scales. You can use various metrics with BIAF depending on what projects/investments you are dealing with and of course, availability and quality of data you have at hand. As it is based on the ExC approach, BIAF aligns well with disclosure metrics recommended by the TNFD and other emerging frameworks as well. We welcome further feedback and comments to our framework method. So please do get in touch if you are intrigued or better yet, if you are keen to test BIAF on your investments or projects or get involved in our next iteration of the method. You can access the full methodology report here: https://lnkd.in/gitDj8Hq

💡 Great article from Kennedys on the Biodiversity Gain Hierarchy 🌳 Key point that stood out to me is ‘whilst every development site is unique, it could be approaching six times more cost effective to purchase off-site biodiversity units compared to creating and maintaining a biodiverse habitat on-site for the required duration’ 🌍 There is still a need for developments to balance policy (national and local) requirements for on-site biodiversity provision with what is most cost effective, but this shows how the offsetting market can be a powerful win-win for getting landscape scale restoration underway #BNG #biodiversitynetgain

A recent framework has been introduced to address the complexities of defining a "unit of nature" within biodiversity credit markets. This framework highlights the challenges of creating a market to fund nature recovery, emphasizing the risks of over-reliance on offsetting. With a $700 billion annual funding gap in conservation, engaging businesses and the financial sector is crucial. The framework outlines two approaches for quantifying biodiversity, yet underscores the difficulties in accurately measuring and aggregating biodiversity metrics. It advises caution in using biodiversity credits as offsets, advocating for direct contributions to nature recovery and strict regulation to ensure genuine biodiversity gains.