More than 100 NGOs, academics and private sector organisations have pledged support for The Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) – an independent certification scheme to check that nature-based solutions are achieving their intended goals. Expected to issue its first certificates at COP16, the standard was developed by a coalition of global experts in line with the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It is based on decades of research, extensive testing, and engagement with hundreds of biodiversity scientists across six continents. Although one in three tree species are at risk of extinction, many nature-based solutions – including tree-planting – are failing to integrate at-risk species, the statement noted. Meanwhile, around 90% of the world’s largest corporations undertaking ecosystem restoration fail to report ecological outcomes, while none of them quantify their social and economic impacts on local stakeholders and traditional owners. Today, EU member state ambassadors also confirmed their backing of the European Commission’s proposal for a 12-month delay to the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). “For years, we have watched as well-intended nature-based solutions have failed to effectively restore our declining ecosystems,” said Paul Smith, Secretary General at Botanic Gardens Conservation International. “This standard will change that. It has the backing of hundreds of global experts, including from countries that are facing significant biodiversity loss – like Kenya and Madagascar. It provides a hope that nature-based schemes can be a solution to the biodiversity crisis. That we can reverse the decline and restore our natural world.” COP16 will also see the release of updated high-level principles for bringing integrity into biodiversity credit markets by the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity credits, in collaboration with the Biodiversity Credit Alliance and the World Economic Forum.
