Can biodiversity credits free up billions for nature?

For supporters, biodiversity credits could free up billions in much-needed funding for nature, but critics fear a repeat of the scandals that have dogged other funding approaches to environmental protection.

Paying for protection tropical rainforests or compensation for habitat destruction is an area of growing interest, and conservation credit trading will feature at this year's COP16 UN Biodiversity Summit in Colombia this month.

The market for biodiversity credits or certificates – which monetize activities that claim to protect or restore nature – is new, unregulated and dogged by fears of "greenwashing".

Supporters say the credits could financially compensate for environmental damage caused by industry, such as when a mine or road project affects the surrounding environment.

Businesses could at least theoretically compensate for the damage by buying credits from organizations that support nature and biodiversity, for example by protecting wetlands or sustainably producing rubber. (Benjamin LEGENDRE, more at phys.org)