News published: 13 October 2023

BGCI will launch a public consultation at the end of October to raise awareness about its flagship initiative, the Global Biodiversity Standard (GBS), and elicit the views of potential users and a wide range of other stakeholders. All BGCI Members, readers of Cultivate and the GBS newsletter, as well other interested parties will be invited to participate.

The consultation marks an important step in the development of the GBS and is being conducted ahead of a planned public announcement at COP28 to herald publication of the GBS technical specifications. COP 28 takes place in the UAE beginning on 30 November.

The technical specifications, which include eight rigorous biodiversity criteria and a transparent survey, scoring and certification process, have been developed over the past 18 months by BGCI’s worldwide network of biodiversity experts, working in collaboration with other leading organisations in ecosystem restoration and global authorities on nature. These include the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), IUCN, CIFOR-ICRAF, TRAFFIC, Plan Vivo Foundation, and RBG Kew.

The methodology has been tested by BGCI-affiliated local experts at more than 100 sites in 6 countries and across 3 Continents with the support of BGCI’s other key partners, the World Economic Forum’s 1t.org, Plan Vivo Foundation, Ecosia, ReforestAction and Acorn/Rabobank.

BGCI believes that the GBS has the potential to become a new international benchmark for Nature Positive Solutions that will drive improved outcomes for biodiversity, ecosystems and the communities that rely on them and support the ambitious goals and targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework. It will provide a standardised, cost-effective way of assessing and certifying the biodiversity impacts of land management projects, such as tree-planting, ecosystem restoration and agro-forestry that can be applied across geographies and types of biome.

The GBS can also fill a glaring gap in the nature finance ecosystem. For tree planting projects and carbon credit markets it could represent a paradigm shift: from ‘any tree at minimal cost’ to long-term Nature Positive Solutions, providing improved biodiversity outcomes, increased resilience for projects, and assurance and risk reduction for stakeholders. It can also provide the means for measuring real biodiversity impacts to inform corporate reporting and target setting under frameworks such as the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN).

[JS Global, a sustainability strategy consulting firm, is advising BGCI on the development of the GBS business model]