Investing in biodiversity: “Between dream and reality, laws stand in the way, and practical objections”[1]
The world is losing biodiversity at an alarming rate. One million species are threatened with extinction, with consequences for food security, climate and economy. Yet this challenge also offers opportunities: biodiversity is starting to develop into a serious investment category, in which natural performance becomes measurable and rewardable. That’s good news — because if we want to protect nature, we also need to be able to value it.
Recent research shows that dozens of market mechanisms are already being developed worldwide to financially underpin biodiversity. From conservation easements in the US to biodiversity credits in Australia and the UK, markets are emerging everywhere that link ecological performance to tradable units.
[1] Quote from the Dutch author Willem Elsschot
These units are in full development. For example, there are Natural Capital Units (NCUs) — value models that capture nature capital in economic terms — and Verifiable Nature Units (VNUs), a new type of outcome-based credit. For example, VNUs represent one hectare of restored ecosystem, verified via measurement indicators such as vegetation cover, species diversity or soil quality. Two larger verification and measurement institutions, Verra and Plan Vivo, have launched standards in 2024. At Verra, a pilot started in April 2025 with several, different projects, spread over countries around the world. In May 2025, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the Biodiversity Credit Alliance and the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits, published a white paper with principles on which a successful biodiversity credit market should be organised.
But although a lot is happening, the playing field is still young. Especially with voluntary biodiversity markets, the demand is uncertain: companies want to contribute, but often do not know exactly what they are buying. A uniform measurement system such as “tonnes of CO₂” for climate is still lacking in biodiversity. This lack of standardization inhibits market growth, which is why the development of reliable, verifiable metrics is essential.
However, these uncertainties should not be an excuse for stagnation. As Johan Cruijff said: “If you don’t shoot, you can’t score.” From a classic (return-risk-cost) investment perspective, good, diversifying biodiversity investments are already available. Biodiversity loss does not wait for perfect (measuring) systems. As with the rise of carbon credit markets, methods will only refine and standardize when we start trading.
The development of biodiversity credits is an important step in this direction. It is an attempt to make biodiversity impact concrete, scalable and tradable. This allows investors to include biodiversity in their portfolios and contribute to goals such as the ’30×30′ promise from the Global Biodiversity Framework.
As Kant already stated: ” whoever wills the end also wills the indispensably necessary means to it that is in his control”. Anyone who strives for a nature-positive economy must invest in measurability, reliability and financing. This requires courage, cooperation and new structures. But the reward is great: a world in which nature is not only preserved, but also profitable. For people, for planet — and for investors. Let’s combine dream and reality, even if there are still (some) practical objections.
