Global Climate News

The World Bank issued a NOK 5 billion sustainable development bond to raise awareness for biodiversity and ecosystem services. The bond, managed by Nordea, drew strong investor interest, highlighting growing investor focus on biodiversity. The World Bank also emphasized the need to integrate nature into economic models and decision-making, noting that over half of the world’s GDP depends on nature’s services. An estimated $700 billion in extra funding is needed annually to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

The IUCN, with support from the European Commission, launched a project in Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands to identify Environmental Harmful Subsidies (EHS) and improve biodiversity financing. The project aims to assess EHS, develop National Biodiversity Finance Plans, improve data governance, and build capacity, ultimately contributing to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework targets of reducing harmful incentives by at least $500 billion per year and mobilising $200 billion per year for biodiversity.

Natural England has released a major update to its Living England national habitat map, which provides detailed information on 16 different habitats across England for 2022-23. The map uses machine learning and satellite imagery to track land use changes and support environmental monitoring, conservation planning, and biodiversity requirements. The project is developed through the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme and partially funded by Environmental Land Management schemes.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, issued a 2 billion Swedish krona green bond to promote biodiversity projects in emerging markets. SEB was the sole manager of the 5-year transaction. The bond proceeds will support initiatives like BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group’s Latin American reforestation and BBVA Colombia’s biodiversity bond for regenerating Colombian forests. Swedish state pension fund AP7 invested in the bond.

The article discusses a report, \"Financing Nature,\" which estimates a \\$700 billion annual funding gap for biodiversity conservation. The report, authored by organizations with ties to the financial sector, proposes closing this gap through private investment, raising concerns about the privatization of natural resource management and increased debt for countries in the Global South. The authors of the report claim that the world spends about \\$140 billion a year on saving biodiversity, but this figure is considered unreliable due to methodological flaws and the inclusion of ineffective measures.

The UK government, through its Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF), has supported 36 projects focused on improving the environment via nature market initiatives. These projects, receiving a total of nearly £4 million in funding, aim to generate revenue from ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and flood management, creating jobs and stimulating private investment in nature.

The UNDP and the Ministry of Ecology, Environment Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan signed a Statement of Intent in Riyadh on December 4, 2024, to cooperate on the GEF-8 Umbrella Programme. This program will support the update of Uzbekistan’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and the 7th National Report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The updated NBSAP will boost efforts to protect Uzbekistan’s natural environment and unique ecosystems.

Mongolia increased its environmental expenditure to US\\$11.92 million in 2023, nearly double the 2016-2021 average, by using land use taxes for biodiversity protection. South Africa's Biodiversity Stewardship Programme added protected areas, with 68% of new additions between 2008 and 2016 established through Biodiversity Stewardship declarations. Kazakhstan increased its protected area budget threefold to US\\$70.3 million in 2023, adding 29 million hectares to protected areas.

In Thailand, the UNDP BIOFIN, Krungthai Bank, and the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning launched a project to promote sustainable bioeconomy in Phetchaburi Province from December 2024 to June 2026. The project focuses on sustainable community-based tourism, equitable profit-sharing from ecotourism, and public-private partnerships to advance the local bioeconomy, supporting climate adaptation and biodiversity action plans.

UK's Purple Horizons Nature Recovery Project, covering the West Midlands region, has implemented a large-scale biodiversity and climate resilience initiative. The project has restored 12 ha of heathland, 21 ha of lowland meadow, and 9 ha of woodland, while developing Biodiversity Net Gain habitat bank projects. The partnership includes local authorities, researchers, and environmental NGOs working to counter biodiversity loss, address climate change, and improve access to nature.

The UK has launched the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) initiative, a world-leading policy requiring development projects to measurably improve nature. Greater Manchester, under Mayor Andy Burnham, has implemented this policy alongside Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS), aiming to protect 30% of land for nature and ensure everyone lives within 15 minutes of green space. The initiative includes creation of habitat banks and urban green spaces, combining sustainable development with nature conservation.

Global biodiversity framework implementation faces challenges as less than 20% of 196 nations, including Sweden, Finland, and Germany, have submitted their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans ahead of COP16 in Colombia. The World Economic Forum projects biodiversity credits demand to reach USD 2 billion by 2030 and USD 69 billion by 2050.

UN CBD COP 16 to reconvene in Rome in February 2025 to address unfinished agenda items including resource mobilization, financial mechanism, and biodiversity framework monitoring. Established Cali Fund for benefit sharing from genetic resources.

Hexagon launched R-evolution in 2021 to accelerate green-tech opportunities. Projects include solar parks in Spain, seagrass mapping in Bahamas for carbon credits, and Green Cubes initiative in Costa Rica for rainforest conservation.

COP16 biodiversity conference delivered mixed results with low NBSAP submissions, established indigenous peoples' body, but failed to reach agreement on resource mobilization strategy.

Natural England leaders visited Greater Manchester to showcase the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) initiatives, including projects at Green Earth's Allwood Farm and Peel Group's Northstone development. The Allwood Farm project involves 30ha of habitat restoration while the Northstone development has achieved 15.4% biodiversity uplift through creation of 1.5 hectares of woodland, 1.2 hectares of lowland meadow, and 710m of hedgerow.

The COP16 in Cali, Colombia focused on biodiversity, establishing a Cali Fund for Digital Sequence Information (DSI) and a permanent subsidiary body for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs). Countries agreed to align climate and biodiversity policies and committed to developing guidelines for managing invasive alien species. Several frameworks and standards for biodiversity credits were launched, including the Framework for High Integrity Biodiversity Credit Markets and the VERRA Nature Framework. Australia, Colombia, Finland, India, and New Zealand are developing national biodiversity credit systems.

The UK has implemented mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements for developments, with a system to calculate biodiversity value and an emerging private market for biodiversity units. Natural England's BNG register now includes 19 gain sites covering over 500 hectares, and 17 responsible bodies have been designated to oversee off-site BNG units.

Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England, reports on his attendance at COP16 in Colombia where he highlighted England's Nature recovery tools including Biodiversity Net Gain policy and Environmental Land Management scheme. The UK has secured a breakthrough on genetic information sharing and launched England's first Local Nature Recovery Strategy in Bristol through the West of England Nature Partnership.

Natural England's biodiversity metric, now Defra's statutory biodiversity metric, has gained global recognition and is being adopted worldwide for measuring and enhancing biodiversity. The metric has been implemented in England in February 2024 and has found applications across various countries including Sweden, Saudi Arabia, US, Netherlands, and India, with Uppsala municipality in Sweden developing an offset program using this metric.