The British Standards Institution (BSI) has announced the launch of a new Nature Investment Standards Programme in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), starting with a discovery phase. The framework aims to build confidence in nature markets and guard against greenwashing. It forms part of a suite of interventions the UK government is putting in place as part of its much-anticipated Green Finance Strategy. This will ultimately help to accelerate progress on environmental goals such as reversing biodiversity loss and achieving net zero. The programme is designed to overcome barriers to investing in nature and the services it provides, including addressing the lack of standardised, transparent data. The programme will drive a consistent approach and provide a benchmark for industry codes to be recognised as sufficiently robust and credible. Scott Steedman, Director-General of Standards at BSI, said: “Enabling high integrity nature markets can help build confidence, attract investment, and empower land managers and other stakeholders to deliver projects that can achieve meaningful environmental impact. This is important at a time when these markets are emerging, to guard against greenwashing, and has the potential to offer substantial benefits to society.”
Announcing the Nature Investment Standards Programme 📢. Supported by @DefraGovUK, this stakeholder-driven programme aims to boost market confidence and increase private sector investment into #NatureRecovery. Learn more: https://t.co/cHHvzWfT9w#BSIStandards pic.twitter.com/9O5Z6b73K9
— BSI UK (@BSI_UK) March 23, 2023
