Area of Focus: Nature Conservation

Nature provides immeasurable value to people and the economy, with about half of the global GDP dependent upon functioning ecosystems. Yet wildlife populations have decreased by almost 70 percent since 1970, and one million species of plants and animals are at risk of extinction. The urgency to protect and restore nature is high.

However, many high-quality conservation efforts remain inadequately funded, and most of the services they provide beyond carbon sequestration have no monetization pathway at all. Equally, companies and other market participants lack structured, auditable channels to invest in nature.

Verra is strongly committed to helping close the finance gap and scale up finance for critical nature conservation and restoration activities that benefit nature and people by developing the Nature Framework asset methodology under the SD VISta Program.

Projects using this methodology can generate Nature Credits. The sale of these transactable units will enable projects to sustain the livelihoods of communities, including Indigenous Peoples, and scale up their operations. Buyers can use Nature Credits to demonstrate their contributions to a nature-positive future.

The Nature Framework ensures that the intended biodiversity outcomes also have sustainable development benefits. Projects certified with the Nature Framework will contribute directly to SDGs 14 (Life below Water) and 15 (Life on Land), and – given nature’s inextricable links to climate – SDG 13 (Climate Action).