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Today, I’m joined by Manesh Lacoul, Global Coordinator of the Biodiversity Credit Alliance. In this conversation, Manesh explains how biodiversity credit markets are taking shape and why credibility must be built in from the start. We discuss the key lessons emerging from carbon markets, including the need to prioritize integrity, inclusion, equity, and innovation rather than treating them as afterthoughts. Manesh shares how the Biodiversity Credit Alliance is bringing together stakeholders across the market to develop principles, assessment tools, and comparability frameworks that can support high-integrity growth. We also talk about buyer integrity, the different use cases for biodiversity credits, the growing role of governments, and what investors and project developers should be paying attention to as this market evolves.
“In carbon markets, integrity came more as an afterthought. For biodiversity, integrity must go hand in hand with market development.”
0:09 Welcome to Forest Invest with Shauna Matkovich
1:14 Manesh Lacoul on his role at the Biodiversity Credit Alliance
3:30 The key actors shaping biodiversity credit markets
5:58 What success looks like: integrity, inclusion, equity, and innovation
7:17 Lessons biodiversity markets should learn from carbon markets
12:44 Inclusion and equity across different local contexts
15:37 Market readiness on the buy and sell side
19:00 Why buyer integrity matters as much as supplier integrity
24:47 How current biodiversity credit buyers are approaching the market
26:52 Where biodiversity credit activity is emerging globally
28:58 The EU roadmap for nature credits
31:14 Biodiversity stacked on carbon credits
32:31 Biodiversity credits versus payment for ecosystem services
35:04 How new buyers, investors, and developers can get started
37:58 Why there are so many methodologies and whether consolidation will happen
41:01 High-level principles, assessment tools, and comparability frameworks
44:10 Why growing government involvement is encouraging
46:02 Advice for forest investors and the role of biodiversity credits in production forests
48:21 Where to find Biodiversity Credit Alliance resources
48:36 Closing remarks with Shauna Matkovich
Founding Director and Host: Shauna Matkovich - The ForestLink
Producer and Editor: Magdalena Laas - Unscripted Creatives
Nature by MaxKoMusic/Soundcloud
Sopwell Woodlands and Scohaboy Bog SAC, Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, IRELAND by wild_rumpus/Soundcloud
Ambient Documentary by Sound Guru (Pixabay)