The European Commission has announced plans to develop a “nature credits” market to incentivize investments in environmental protection and fill the financing gap for biodiversity.During a roundtable in Brussels , experts and representatives from various sectors discussed the need to ensure transparency, prevent greenwashing and properly structure the market.
The need to develop is fundamental:
- a solid and credible methodology ,
- innovative strategies to grow the nature credit market ,
- ways to promote private sector investment
- biodiversity conservation.
This project had already been announced by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during an international event dedicated to how to preserve biodiversity and tackle the climate crisis.
The agricultural sector plays a central role in protecting the land, but at the same time contributes to global pollution with pesticides, chemical fertilizers, as well as excess methane and nitrogen from intensive farming.
“ Sustainable agriculture is an extremely important tool to support agriculture that works in sync with nature,” stressed von der Leyen .
"We need new financial tools, to compensate farmers for the extra costs of sustainability and compensate them for taking care of land, water and air. It's time to reward those who serve our planet,"
The newly established High Level Round Table will help identify the main drivers of demand for nature credits and the conclusions reached will feed into the process of developing EU action.
Work on nature credits requires close collaboration with all stakeholders : Member States, international partners, organisations, industries and financial institutions, including commercial and development banks.