#24 - Biodiversity credits - insights from a deep-dive on the recipe of 13 leading schemes

This twenty fourth issue of The Nature Intelligence Newsletter is the third and final (for now) of a series on the indicators & metrics used by biodiversity credit schemes. It covers:

• The dataset: how 13 leading schemes calculate the number of potential credits project developers can register
• Main trends and differences between the "recipes" of those schemes
• In-depth analysis of the characteristics of the 13 recipes

This series is itself part of a broader focus on biodiversity credits within The Nature Intelligence Newsletter:

1. introduction to the concept
2. buyer archetypes & associated controversies
3. use cases, market size and demand
4. counterbalancing impacts & ecological equivalence
5. lessons & key differences of 4 schemes
6. 4 issues you need to know about
7. market & price trends
8. the cooking analogy
9. indicators & metrics

Before diving in, for those reading this on 10 December, Simas Gradeckas and me will host a webinar to present all our joint analyses on metrics & indicators and answer your questions:

Biodiversity Credits: Practical Insights on Credit Quantification and Metrics

12 December 2024 - 17:00 - 18:00 UTC+1

Register now (850+ people registered so far and there is a limit at 1000 so get your seats now!)

Reminder: the cooking analogy and the analysis of 34 schemes and 140 indicators

If you are not familiar with this concept of "ingredients" or the whole cooking analogy we developed with Simas Gradeckas from Bloom Labs, I strongly suggest you read the first episode.

Introducing the data on 13 leading schemes' recipes

After completing the analysis of the 140 "ingredients" used by 34 schemes, Bloom Labs and BioInt conducted an in-depth analysis of 13 of those schemes.

For each, we described in details on a Miro board its "recipe", i.e. how the equation governing how the ingredients are combined.

First learnings from these recipes

We then started analysing the key differences between schemes and the trends emerging from this overview.

In-depth statistics from the 13 recipes

Finally, we ran some statistics on the data and extracted 6 main insights.

"Understanding this whole thing is basically a full-time job"

This is what Simas recently wrote and yet we are happy to let everyone benefit from the months spent on this analysis (and we'll reveal a way to further speed up your learning in our webinar!).

Overall, even though consensus is starting to emerge on some topics such as the activities financed (both restoration & conservation may generate biodiversity credits), innovation is flourishing on others such as uplift measurement systems, integration of biodiversity significance, etc. Consolidation into a handful of models is likely to only happen in a few years.

Please share your thoughts in comments! And please let me know if there is a topic you'd like me to cover in the future!

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Disclaimer: all views are mine and do not represent any institution or initiative's.

Access previous issues of the Nature Intelligence Newsletter:

Case studies and examples

#01 - Impacts on ecosystem integrity of a listed equity index assessed for the first time - STOXX600

#08 - Getting inspired: 3 front-runners who assessed their biodiversity impacts at the corporate level

#09 - Ecosystem condition: direct measurement and assessment of regulatory offsets

Ecosystem condition definition and metrics

#02 - All you ever wanted to know about the MSA

#03 - Ecosystem condition: the indicator to watch for corporate biodiversity performance

Biodiversity measurement tools

#04 – Differences between the corporate biodiversity metrics

#05 - Charting path: navigating the biodiversity tool wilderness - part 1 - The compasses

#06 - Charting path: navigating the biodiversity tool wilderness - part 2 - The map

#07 - Charting path: navigating the biodiversity tool wilderness - part 3 - Tools for financial institutions

Biodiversity credits

#10 - Biodiversity credits: definition and main actors

#11 - Biodiversity credits: uncovering the use cases

#12 - Biodiversity credits: deep-dive on use cases, demand and market size

#13 - Biodiversity credits: counterbalancing impacts with clear ecological equivalency rules

#15 - Biodiversity credits: lessons & key differences of 4 leading schemes

#16 - Biodiversity credits: 4 issues you need to know about

#17 - Biodiversity credits trends: market & price

#20 - Biodiversity credits: the cooking analogy - understanding indicators

#23 - Biodiversity credits - the ingredients - main indicators used by BC schemes?

Align

#14 - Align - Best practices for biodiversity measurement & compliance of existing tools

The Ecosystem Condition Protocol (EC Protocol)

#18 - The Ecosystem Condition Protocol: introduction, needs, goals and linkages to other frameworks

#19 - The Ecosystem Condition Protocol: the what and how of this missing piece of the corporate biodiversity puzzle

COP16

#21 - COP16 - intro, disappointments and hopes

#22 - COP16 - progress on metrics, biodiversity credits, IP, DSI; failure on financing & monitoring

Credits: the cover of this issue was made using Bing Copilot Designer.