Biodiversity Credits: Unlocking Financial Markets for Nature-Positive Outcomes

Biodiversity credits are an economic instrument that can be used to finance actions that generate measurable positive outcomes for biodiversity (e.g. species, ecosystems, natural habitats) through the creation and sale of biodiversity units. While biodiversity offsets and credits may appear similar in design, what sets them apart is the intent of the purchase and the claims made around that purchase. This paper summarises the main ideas, issues and questions surrounding the launch of biodiversity credit markets. It presents four case studies on new biodiversity from New Zealand, Colombia and Australia, plus one global study.