Biodiversity certificates: launch of a research programme

More than 200 people attended the event organised in Paris on Tuesday evening to mark the launch of the programme. The ATIBT was present as a member of the Organisation for Biodiversity Certificates (OBC).

The aim of this research programme is to produce a methodology for assessing the biodiversity benefits of actions taken or financed by businesses to promote biodiversity. The work will initially focus on agriculture and forest in temperate environments, followed by tropical forests.

Today, it is difficult to measure biodiversity, even though it is estimated that half of the world's GDP is based on the services provided by nature. Even more complex: how can we measure the effectiveness of actions to promote biodiversity, and the gains in biodiversity? It is also necessary, from the point of view of biodiversity credits, to certify efforts. In particular, it will be important to make a distinction between impact reduction and positive contribution. Sylvie Goulard, co-chair of the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits, emphasised the need for companies to commit to actions to promote biodiversity, but also for the inclusion of Southern countries in this work.

Romain Julliard, Professor of Ecology at the MNHN, explains that the approach to assessing the impact of actions taken, explored in this research programme, is "innovative because it is far removed from traditional approaches based on counting species". "It will make it possible to distinguish the good performers from the less good, and to respond more easily to the internal and external reporting requirements of private and public players in the field of biodiversity", adds Fabiola Flex.

_{Evan Buriez | Organization for Biodiversity Certificates}

It is worth noting that a vast project has also been launched at national level: the National Strategy for Biodiversity was launched on 27 November.

To mark the occasion, the OBC published a press release, which we reproduce here.

OBC press release