Razan Al Mubarak, President of IUCN and panel member of the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB), recently co-authored an op-ed for IUCN’s Crossroads alongside Dame Amelia Fawcett, Co-Chair of IAPB. The article dives into biodiversity credits and highlights how private initiatives should scale up in order to bridge the financial gap regarding climate action.
“To appreciate the stakes, one must grasp how stark the financial gap is. Current assessments suggest global biodiversity conservation receives USD 124–143 billion annually, while an estimated gap of USD 942 billion remains to meet the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Approximately 80% of current conservation funding still comes from public sources (governments and multilateral institutions). That means private capital, philanthropy and market instruments must scale rapidly if we are to close the gap. The Global Biodiversity Framework itself includes Target 19, which explicitly mentions biodiversity credits as one of several financial mechanisms for resource mobilisation.”
In the article, Ms. Al Mubarak and Ms. Fawcett review the concept of biocredits — a certificate created to serve as a measured and evidence-based unit of positive biodiversity outcome, durable and additional to what would have occurred otherwise.
“Credits represent the biodiversity outcomes linked to a project and can be sold and issued throughout the project lifecycle. Biodiversity credits can be used to support both conservation and restoration of nature including maintenance activities. The goal is not to monetise nature itself but to monetise the results of actions that produce ecological value, making them investable.”
Calling back to the IUCN World Conservation Congress, which took place October 9 through 15 in Abu Dhabi, Ms. Al Mubarak and Ms. Fawcett introduce IAPB’s Framework for high-integrity biodiversity credit markets:
“As many at the Congress stressed, biodiversity credit markets must embed high integrity, strong governance and social equity from the start, not as afterthoughts. This is what the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits, of which we both are members, is addressing through our Framework for high-integrity biodiversity credit markets. This Framework was developed with input from over 120 experts from varied disciplines (including Indigenous Peoples and scientists) and more than 25 countries.”
In a call for action, the article wraps up with a powerful conclusion:
“If nature credits, backed by public, private, and philanthropic capital, can deliver high impact for nature and people, they may become a powerful tool to finance a living planet.”