?? Opportunities for ecological restoration?

We hope you're well and are looking forward to catching up with the latest news from the voluntary carbon market. One interesting development of the last two weeks is the launch of?Symbiosis . This is a coalition between Meta, Microsoft, Google and Salesforce, designed to scale investment in nature-based carbon removal projects. To learn more, check out?Jennifer Morris from The Nature Conservancy on LinkedIn and this article in ESG Today . But this isn't the only development...scroll down to catch up with other news and reports.

Newsflash

• First of all, Reuters reports news from the UN that half of the world’s pastures are degraded by overuse and the impacts of climate change.
• TIME publishes a piece by Fred Krupp explaining how carbon markets can deliver to places on the frontlines of the climate crisis, including degraded pastures.
• Reuters reports that Microsoft will buy 1.6 million carbon removal credits from a 10,000-hectare, nature-based project in Panama. The project leases land from local landowners rather than purchasing it outright.
• BusinessGreen covers ‘It’s Now for Nature’s’ first nature strategy approvals. GSK and Kering two of the first five to be accepted.
• Euronews publishes a comment piece arguing that the private sector must play a more proactive role in protecting biodiversity to avoid risks.?
• Reuters reports that the UK is closing a carbon accounting loophole that would have enabled current surplus emission reduction to meet future climate goals.
• Worryingly, edie shares the news that most businesses have yet to disclose their impacts on forests.
• The Guardian writes about the substantial sums the Bezos Earth Fund has invested in climate solutions.
• The Independent reports on Shell’s tense AGM. More than 21 percent of its shareholders voted against Shell’s scaling back of short- and medium-term climate targets.
• Carbon Pulse covers the World Bank’s annual State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2024 report. It highlights how, in 2023, global carbon pricing generated a record $104 billion in revenue. About 50 percent of these funds were directed to climate and nature investments.?
• edie reports that the demand of airlines for carbon credits could outstrip supply fourteenfold by 2030.?
• And finally, The Guardian covers a study that discovered a herd of 170 reintroduced bison in Romania could help capture and store CO2 in the region’s soil.

Don't miss this report

Opportunities for Ecological Restoration in the Voluntary Carbon Market

What's new? Carbon Direct and Meta have published a report on opportunities for ecological restoration in the VCM.?

What's included? It covers barriers for ecological restoration projects in the VCM and provides a roadmap to guide buyers to best support ecological restoration.

Can anything be done to rectify this? Yes, definitely. The reports makes five recommendations to boost nature restoration projects.

Is there a key takeaway? We found this interesting: In 2022, nature-based solution (NbS) projects accounted for roughly 17 percent of issuances from the four largest credit registries.?

That's great, but is there any more detail? Yes, NbS issuance was, as you might imagine, not evenly split between project types. Afforestation, reforestation and revegetation (ARR), wetland and mangrove restoration, and improved forest management (IFM) made up a mere 13 percent of these nature-based issuances.

Suggestion one:?Companies can support restoration projects by showing clear demand and choosing to purchase credits generated by these projects via the?voluntary carbon market.

Suggestion two: Project developers could mix innovative and traditional approaches to restoration in their carbon project design to capture existing best practices and?new technologies.

Suggestion three:?Better connect local project implementers and?international buyers so that each side better understands the needs and goals of the other.

Suggestion four:?Alter carbon project governance rules and define quality standards to promote more restoration across registries and protocols.

Suggestion five: Finally, the report recommends using blended finance tools, including buyer coalitions, to unlock new sources of capital. This could also de-risk purchasing carbon credits from restoration projects.

News from the field

Carbon Tanzania shares?over US$6.9 million of revenue with local people

Earlier this month, Carbon Herald covered Carbon Tanzania’s 2024 impact report, highlighting its community revenue sharing. In 2023, the project developer paid local people US$6.9 million to local people, some of which funded the training and employment of the first female Village Game Scouts in Makame Savannah. You can watch a video on its work in the Carbon Herald article here .

Respira's News

Respira team to attend Responsible Business Europe in London

Between the 11th and 12th of June, Reuters will hold its Responsible Business Europe 2024 conference in London. Eva Weightman, our Director of Corporate Client Relations, and Will Close-Brooks, our Director of Business Development, will attend the event. Please reach out if you would like to connect at the conference.

Dates for the diary

• 30 May, 2024 State of the Voluntary Carbon Market, Ecosystem Marketplace, Virtual
• 3 Jun, The Guardian Effect: The role of media in providing oversight of the VCM, AlliedOffsets,?Virtual
• 3-4 Jun, Carbon Capture Summit 2024, IQ Hub,?Amsterdam
• 6 Jun, Net Zero Business Transformation: Developing the right conditions - people, Global Compact Network UK,?Virtual
• 11 Jun, TTI Summit: Nature & Biodiversity Investing, TTI,?London
• 12-13 Jun, Forestry & Agriculture Investment Summit, CE-EM,?London

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Respira International is an impact-driven carbon finance business. Respira’s high-quality carbon credits allow corporations and financial institutions to mitigate their environmental impact. Respira channels private capital into climate solutions ensuring long-term relationships with trusted carbon project developers that enable its clients to use predominantly nature-based solutions to build sustainable, climate-positive businesses and portfolios. Respira’s team combines deep and varied experience working in global financial markets with a robust understanding of carbon project development in leading international conservation organisations. Respira operates with an innovative offtake and profit share model which reinvests back into local communities.?