18 March 2026 by Eva Bishop
03.03.2026
In a landmark move for global conservation, the European Union’s scheme to test biodiversity credits in European wetlands has named a British scientific methodology as the benchmark for measuring tradeable nature-based credits
For decades, carbon credits have given financial markets a way to price the invisible: the damage done, or avoided, by greenhouse gas emissions, and the success of efforts to reverse the decline. Now, nature is about to get the same treatment – and the science that will underpin it has been recognised for its rigour, usability, affordability and marketability.
A new report, funded by EU LIFE project, is responding to the growing need to mobilise private finance for biodiversity restoration and protection while ensuring environmental integrity, policy alignment and practical applicability. Having identified an original 91 methodologies for measuring biodiversity gain, the global field was whittled down to just eight before identifying the Wallacea Trust Methodology and Verra as its first and second scientific frameworks for a trial process respectively. Both of these methodologies report in the same units of biodiversity gain – a 1% gain per hectare in the median value of a basket of taxa that reflect the conservation value of the site and with permanence and additionality. The decision signals, for the first time, that a major government body is moving toward a standardised unit of biodiversity gain – the essential building block for a functioning global market in nature credits.
Dr Tim Coles, CEO and founder of project developer rePLANET and original author of the Wallacea Trust Methodology, commented, “This is hugely significant and we are delighted to see the first move by a government organisation to define what is a unit of biodiversity gain. Without an agreed biodiversity unit how are corporates going to quantify their contributions to nature or a tradeable market in nature credits become established?”
The review’s conclusion – ranking the Wallacea Trust Methodology first for implementation as well as how well the scheme applies to uplift scenarios, indicator flexibility, geographic/ecosystem applicability and cost – demonstrates how this methodology stands above the rest for its rigour and real-world applicability. This is the culmination of years of field science, built on direct measurement of species, habitats and ecological function rather than the proxy indicators that have left earlier attempts struggling to quantify nature.
The stakes could hardly be higher. Biodiversity loss is accelerating at a rate scientists describe as a sixth mass extinction, yet unlike carbon, nature has never had a common currency that allows markets, governments and businesses to measure, compare and trade gains and losses. The EU’s move changes that fundamentally.
Market catalyst
The implications for conservation finance are profound. Biodiversity credits – units representing a verified, measurable gain in nature – have been emerging in voluntary markets, but without a recognised scientific standard, institutional investors and corporate buyers have remained cautious. The EU’s signal that it is working toward a standardised unit of gain could unlock that demand at scale.
Analysts have drawn comparisons to the early days of the carbon market, when the establishment of verified standards transformed a niche concept into a multi-billion-dollar global industry. Biodiversity, advocates argue, represents an even larger opportunity – and a more urgent one.
The review’s conclusion – ranking the Wallacea Trust Methodology first for implementation as well as how well the scheme applies to uplift scenarios, indicator flexibility, geographic/ecosystem applicability and cost – demonstrates how this brand stands above the rest for its rigour and real-world applicability. Biodiversity, advocates argue, represents an even larger opportunity – and a more urgent one.
Independent verification
Lead proponent of the Wallacea Trust Methodology, rePLANET, operates projects within an ecosystem of independent organisations that together allow the Wallacea Trust Methodology to be applied. The Biodiversity Futures Initiative (BFI) provides independent academic review of all claims, ensuring the design and implementation of the way projects measure biodiversity change is scientifically robust and trustworthy.
Prof Richard Field, Chair of independent validation and verification body the Biodiversity Futures Initiative, commented: “We launched in 2023 to fill the gap in biodiversity method validation and claim verification. The BFI approach to verification involves expert researchers working with the raw data and closely examining whether the biodiversity results claimed by any given project match the data collected. This is the most rigorous verification approach being used. It is wonderful to have this new recognition that others are as enthusiastic about the methodology as we are.”
To avoid the conflicts of interest encountered in some carbon schemes, the BFI cannot issue biodiversity credits. Instead, Renew Earth provides the issuance stage, based on the BFI verified claims with deductions for buffers, before listing the credits and allowing them to be retired through an independent registry.
Jason Eis, from Renew Earth, endorsed the robustness of this approach, commenting, “The Renew registry will only accept units of biodiversity gain that have been gathered using a multiple taxa approach, and independently verified by biodiversity experts, to ensure maximum integrity and transparency.”
The recognition through this EU report is validation of a scientific bet: that the only way to build a credible nature market is to measure nature properly, not to estimate it from reductions in threat levels or use of single species indicators. With the EU now pointing toward a common unit and a common standard, the race to build that market – on foundations that can actually hold – has begun in earnest.
Read the report here
Notes for Editors:
About rePLANET
rePLANET is a UK-based company operating globally, that restores ecosystems using carbon and biodiversity credits and direct or supported project development. As an established entity within carbon markets they are now building a portfolio of biodiversity-led projects, providing direct project support on how to quantify the biodiversity gain. Their aim is to have 2 million high quality biodiversity credits on the market by 2028 so that trading of these credits can establish prices.
Press contact: Dr Tim Coles – 07818 061032
About Renew Earth
Renew is a UK-based company operating globally, that seeks to help companies realise commercial value from improving nature. These efforts are underpinned by high integrity, scientifically robust, and transparent data which can be used as trustworthy evidence to support nature claims. Renew is a product-led company working with a wide range of companies and other organisations.
Press contact: Dan Exton – 07736 458926
About Biodiversity Futures Initiative (BFI)
The BFI was created to provide a more rigorous verification body for biodiversity claims than was previously available, using the tried-and-tested method of academic peer review as its backbone. It is an independent, non-profit organisation, comprising professional biodiversity researchers whose academic reputations are staked on the quality of the work done. It also brings peer review to validation of proposed methodologies: specific implementations of the Wallacea Trust framework to individual projects.
Press contact: Prof. Richard Field – 07910 681198
About Wallacea Trust
The Wallacea Trust is a UK based charity that, during the pandemic, organised a series of meetings with corporates, financial institutions, academics and consultants to identify a unit for biodiversity that was the equivalent of the 1 tonne of carbon dioxide used in the carbon world. Out of this work the Wallacea Trust Methodology was created that showed how data could be collected to quantify units of biodiversity gain for any habitat around the world. The Trust maintains the methodology updates but makes it open source and free of charge to use.
Press contact: Dr Niall McCann – 07817 112620