Green development credits to foster global biodiversity

Innovative financial mechanisms for global biodiversity conservation are a top priority for the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Japan in October.

Frustrated with nearly 20 years of waiting for promised funds, some countries and environmental organizations are pressing for a 'green development' mechanism, analogous to the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. This has delivered billions in private-sector funds to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Such a mechanism for conserving biodiversity could unlock comparable volumes of funding by identifying projects for investors interested in supporting conservation activities worldwide. A programme might begin with voluntary participation, offering a 'credit' for the area of land complying with the CBD's objectives of conservation, sustainable use and equitable benefit sharing.

Although this credit would not have a legal application in mitigating a buyer's biodiversity footprint, it would create a transparent, independently verified and quantifiable investment. The absence of such an instrument has long been an obstacle to greater private-sector and individual participation in funding global biodiversity goals.

Success will depend on support from developing countries, notably those with large areas of land in need of ecological restoration. All those responsible for land management — governmental, corporate, non-governmental and community groups, individuals and indigenous people — should benefit equally from the green development mechanism.