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🗞️ Driving the news: The European Commission has unveiled a Roadmap towards Nature Credits, designed to channel private investment into biodiversity restoration by creating a certified, voluntary market for nature-positive actions
• The initiative seeks to close the EU’s €65 billion annual biodiversity financing gap, complementing public funds with standardised, credible nature credits that reward farmers, landowners, and communities for measurable ecosystem restoration
• Stakeholder input is invited through an open consultation and an expert group to shape the framework.
🔭 The context: With over 75% of eurozone businesses dependent on healthy ecosystems, biodiversity loss poses growing economic and environmental risks
• The roadmap aligns with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, expanding on pilot schemes already underway in France, Estonia, and Peru
• The Commission has committed €7 billion to biodiversity by 2027 and aims to make nature an investable strategic asset, building on lessons from carbon markets while addressing concerns over greenwashing.
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Mobilising private capital for biodiversity is crucial to halting ecosystem degradation, which underpins climate resilience, food security, and economic stability
• Nature credits could unlock innovative financing, incentivise land stewardship, and integrate nature into financial and corporate decision-making
• Ensuring environmental integrity and equitable benefits will be key to scaling the market without repeating the pitfalls of poorly governed carbon offset schemes
⏭️ What's next: An expert group will be formed by September 2025 to co-develop market standards, with an open feedback period running until 30 September 2025
• The Commission aims to establish certification mechanisms, minimise administrative burdens, and build trust in the system to attract private investors
• Outcomes will inform policy and market development by 2027, when internal and external EU biodiversity spending is set to double
• Partnerships with global initiatives and national schemes will help harmonise standards and enhance impact
💬 One quote: "We have to put nature on the balance sheet… With investment and innovation, we generate revenue for those who work to protect nature." — Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
📈 One stat: Ecosystem degradation and climate impacts could cut business profits by up to 7% annually within the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum
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