Civil Society Organizations Worldwide Warn Against Biodiversity Offsets and Credits

Photo: Simon Chirgwin, BBC

Press release

Civil Society Organizations Worldwide Warn Against Biodiversity Offsets and Credits

Over 270 organizations and academics oppose biodiversity market mechanisms ahead of a critical global meeting, citing major risks to ecosystems and communities

 

2 October 2024 – Over 270 civil society organizations and academics from around the world have voiced strong opposition to the use of biodiversity offsets and credits, warning that such mechanisms will fail to protect ecosystems and instead pose significant risks to the environment, Indigenous Peoples, women, youth, small-scale food producers, and local and Afro-descendant communities.

A Civil Society Statement on Biodiversity Offsets and Credits released today in advance of the UN conference on Biodiversity (COP16) highlights deep concerns about the ineffectiveness and potential harms of these market-based initiatives [1]. Worryingly, there is likely to be a perpetuation of land grabs, community displacement, gender violence, socio-economic consequences, food insecurity and human rights abuses, as seen with carbon markets. At the same time, biocrediting systems face insurmountable technical problems and are unlikely to be effective either in terms of protecting ecosystems or raising reliable additional funding for biodiversity conservation. 

“Biodiversity markets are built on flawed premises, and they risk repeating the same mistakes as problematic carbon markets, while introducing even more severe threats to ecosystems and communities, harming women and youth disproportionately. We need urgent action for nature, but biodiversity markets are not the solution,” said Valentina Figuera Martínez of the Global Forest Coalition, an international coalition of NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations.

The statement comes as biodiversity markets are being promoted as a potential tool to finance nature conservation and meet global biodiversity targets. The upcoming United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia (COP 16) [2], is seen as a critical moment for civil society and rights holders to challenge and reject biodiversity market mechanisms. 

The signatories are calling on governments, multilateral bodies, conservation organizations, private sector representatives and other stakeholders to halt the development and promotion of biodiversity offsets and credits.

“Biodiversity offsets and credits are antithetical to biodiversity conservation—instead of halting biodiversity loss, they perpetuate it. What we urgently need instead is transformational change that really addresses the root causes of biodiversity loss”, said Lim Li Ching from the Third World Network, an international NGO from the Global South. 

According to the signatories of the statement, this must include:

• Strengthening environmental regulations;
• Protecting Indigenous Peoples’ territories and local communities’ tenure rights;
• Ending harmful subsidies; 
• Securing equitable funding for community-led conservation efforts and supporting the implementation of non-market approaches.

“COP 16 must put in place equitable, rights-based, gender-responsive and effective action to safeguard our planet’s biodiversity, rather than risky schemes such as biodiversity offsets and credits that only delay urgent action,” said Yemi Katerere, from the African CSOs Biodiversity Alliance.

 

Notes to Editors:

[1] Key concerns with biodiversity offsets and credits:

• Ineffective and misguided approach: Biodiversity offsets and credits are likely to be costly, ineffective, and prone to human rights violations. Alternative approaches, such as protecting Indigenous Peoples’ lands and territories and enhancing environmental regulations, are more successful in addressing biodiversity loss.

• Delaying urgent action: Like carbon offsetting, biodiversity offsetting could delay the necessary systemic changes required to combat the root causes of biodiversity decline, offering a temporary fix rather than a long-term solution.
• Greenwashing: There is growing fear that biodiversity credits will end up greenwashing the activities of corporations and governments, allowing them to appear environmentally responsible without making meaningful changes.
• Threat to equity and rights: The commodification of biodiversity risks exacerbating global inequities, with wealthier nations and corporations potentially exploiting credits sourced from the Global South. This could result in land grabs, displacement, and human rights abuses.
• Market failures and mismanagement: Challenges seen in carbon markets, such as baseline manipulation and issues of additionality and permanence, will be even more problematic in biodiversity markets.
• Weak methodologies and uncertain revenues: Existing methodologies for measuring biodiversity are overly simplistic and unreliable, with revenue from biodiversity markets expected to be unstable and inadequate.
• Poor governance: There are significant concerns about the governance of biodiversity markets, including conflicts of interest and poor regulation. Organizations that have been criticized for issuing ineffective carbon credits appear to be jumping on the biodiversity market bandwagon, risking the repeat of failure.

 

[2] The United Nations Biodiversity Conference includes the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16), and will be held in Cali, Colombia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024.

 

For more information and to read the full statement, visit biodmarketwatch.info

                       

African CSOs Biodiversity Alliance                             FIAN International         

                 

Friends of the Earth International  Global Forest Coalition  Global Youth Biodiversity Network  

         

Green Finance Observatory                   Third World Network              World Rainforest Movement

 

 

2 Oct, 2024
Posted in Press releases, Forests and Climate Change, 2Media