A Message for Macro Macchiato Readers from our Partners at JS Global Advisory
While much of the shipping industry’s attention this year has, understandably, been focused on decarbonisation, another critical environmental issue has rapidly risen up political and corporate agendas. That issue is the catastrophic damage being inflicted on nature. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at the UN biodiversity conference (COP 15) last December aims to reverse that trend.
One of the new initiatives aimed at supporting the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework is being supported by Shipping Strategy partner JS Global Advisory. The initiative, The Global Biodiversity Standard (GBS), aims to drive improved outcomes for biodiversity, ecosystems and the communities that rely on them by providing a standardised, cost-effective way of assessing and certifying the biodiversity impacts of land management projects, such as tree-planting, ecosystem restoration and agro-forestry that can be applied across geographies and types of biome.
It has been developed by a consortium of worldwide biodiversity experts, leading organisations in ecosystem restoration and global authorities on nature comprising Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), CIFOR-ICRAF, Plan Vivo Foundation, TRAFFIC and eight ecosystem restoration hubs from across the tropics. Sustainability consultants JS Global are advising on development of the GBS business model and are pleased to announce the launch of a public consultation to obtain feedback from potential users and a wide range of other stakeholders.
The consultation is being conducted ahead of a planned public announcement at COP28 to herald publication of the GBS technical specifications. COP 28 takes place in the UAE beginning on 30 November.
The technical specifications, which include eight rigorous biodiversity criteria and a transparent survey, scoring and certification process, have been developed over the past 18 months and has been tested by local experts at more than 100 sites in 6 countries and across 3 Continents.
The GBS can fill a glaring gap in the nature finance ecosystem. For tree planting projects and carbon credit markets it could represent a paradigm shift: from ‘any tree at minimal cost’ to long-term Nature Positive Solutions, providing improved biodiversity outcomes, increased resilience for projects, and assurance and risk reduction for stakeholders. It can also provide the means for measuring biodiversity impacts to inform corporate reporting and target setting under frameworks such as the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN).
Readers of Macro Macchiato with an interest in biodiversity issues are welcome to participate in the GBS consultation. Please visit https://www.biodiversitystandard.org/# and click on the link to the GBS Public Consultation.
Find out more about JS Global Advisory here: https://www.jsglobaladvisory.com
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