In October Plan Vivo attended the Corporate Investment into Forestry and Biodiversity Conference (CIFB), held in London. This annual event helps large scale corporations and industries plan and develop strategies for investment into forestry and biodiversity. 

The demand for biodiversity credits

This year the content had a heavy focus on the emerging and nascent biodiversity market. Panel discussions centred around innovative ways to measure biodiversity at scale (such as acoustic monitoring championed by Rainforest Connection and remote sensing courtesy of Space Intelligence), with other discussions focusing upon the demand for biodiversity credits. Repeated questions included: who will buy a biodiversity credit and why? What might buyers be able to claim? And what will drive the purchase of these credits?

A session aptly named 'alphabet soup' discussed emerging frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), and how corporations are working to better understand these frameworks and align their business strategy with nature targets. This was noted to be a key driver for the demand of voluntary biodiversity credits. 

Plan Vivo's side event was hosted in collaboration with Fauna & Flora, Pivotal, and Carbon Tanzania. Photo credit: CIFB.

High-integrity biodiversity markets

Lessons learnt from the voluntary carbon market helped inform and shape biodiversity market conversations, particularly understandings of what is meant by 'high-integrity' and how it can be achieved. Although many aspects of what is required for generating high-integrity certificates (such as certification, peer-review, third-party auditing and retiring credits on independent registries) are familiar to the market, the true cost of these aspects are less well known. It is important to create awareness in the emerging biodiversity market, that in order to deliver credible, verified outcomes for biodiversity, climate and communities, the market needs to be willing to pay for it.

On the second day of the conference Plan Vivo, Fauna & Flora, Pivotal, and Carbon Tanzania held a side session which included the introduction of biodiversity credits and the developing Plan Vivo Biodiversity Standard (PV Nature). This was followed by a panel discussion. The side event largely focussed on delivering the message that if buyers want high-integrity then they need to be prepared to pay for it. It was expressed by those in the room that the price of biodiversity credits should reflect the minimum cost of doing the work, gaining certification, and the associated requirements - as well as rewarding the custodians of nature to continue incentivising sustainable land management and nature recovery.

The side event focused upon high-integrity biodiversity markets and what a high-quality biodiversity credit will look like. Photo credit: CIFB. 

PV Nature and its opportunities