Stockholm (NordSIP) – The European Commission hopes to help EU member states overcome the challenge of mobilising private capital towards nature positive investment with the publication of a new Roadmap towards Nature Credits.
Public funding alone has been deemed insufficient to meet the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), but there is a lack of market-based incentives to stimulate private investment in nature-positive projects within the EU. The Commission defines nature credits as representing an investment into nature-positive actions by a company, a financial institution, a public entity, or a citizen, which in return can benefit from cleaner ecosystems, risk reduction, improved reputation and higher social acceptability for its projects. The projects would require certification and valuation by independent experts, which would then allow them to be monetised. Nature credits could be linked to wetland restoration or reforestation initiatives.
The roadmap is supported by EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who commented: “We have to put nature on the balance sheet. That’s exactly what nature credits do. When well-designed, they will provide an efficient, market-driven instrument that encourage the private sector to invest and innovate. With investment and innovation, we generate revenue for those who work to protect nature, including our farmers, our landowners, our foresters.”
Green deal or greenwash?
While the carbon markets can rely on relatively plentiful and reliable emissions data, nature credits present greater problems due to the broad range of metrics, themes, and projects involved. Many environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) remain sceptical of the proposed monetisation of nature and ecosystem resources.
Friends of Earth Europe responded to the publication of the Roadmap towards Nature Credits by highlighting what it sees as the fundamental weakness of the proposal. Clara Bourgin, nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe stated: “Nature credits are a cover for inaction, a greenwashing shortcut that allows corporations to keep destroying nature as long as they pay for it. This is not the time for market schemes that benefit only a few while putting nature at risk. Instead of treating biodiversity as a business opportunity, EU decision-makers must strengthen environmental law, properly fund nature restoration and redirect harmful subsidies.”
NGOs are concerned that nature credits will distract from real solutions and amount to ‘offsetting in disguise.’ The quest for profits could also mean that projects that are highly valuable to nature are overlooked in favour of ones that are easier to accomplish.
