UK France Fund Global Push For Biodiversity Credits

In a key step towards international cooperation on the environment, France and the United Kingdom together made a financial contribution to the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB). The new funds come in the wake of the recent UK-France Summit and the State Visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the UK, highlighting the developing cooperation between the two countries in responding to the twin challenges of climate change and loss of biodiversity.

The award will finance IAPB's transformation into a stand-alone not-for-profit organization and finance its ambitious programme to COP30, when the conference is taking place in Belém, Brazil. The UK is providing £500,000 under the project to be matched by France under its Ministry of Environment and French Treasury to the value of €580,000. These funds should play a crucial role in accessing global finance for restoration and conservation of biodiversity, and in taking the lead in developing healthy biodiversity credit markets.

Developed jointly by France and the UK in 2023 during the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, the IAPB was created to use innovative financial instruments in solving loss of biodiversity. The Panel came into being through the participation of more than 25 senior members of the finance industry, business, science, non-government organisation, Indigenous Peoples, and local community from more than a dozen countries. The diversity has led to an evidence-base which underpins a framework that aims to develop high-integrity biodiversity credit markets—markets that not only direct finance to conservation, but also with fairness, openness, and environmental impact.

Underlying IAPB action is the creation of a cost-effective, science-based system of biodiversity crediting that is respectful of Indigenous peoples' and local communities' rights and attracts the knowledge and priority of all stakeholders. The Panel's Framework for High Integrity Biodiversity Credit Markets presented at CBD COP16 in Cali, Colombia, received widespread international endorsement. It was preceeded by the launch of 31 pilot projects across the globe, which demonstrated how biodiversity credit markets are starting to emerge and generate real conservation results.

The new investment by the UK and France at this key moment comes as the IAPB is further solidifying its position as a strong, impartial institution with the ability to spur international action on finance for nature. Since June 2025, the IAPB has been an operational, not-for-profit entity. This milestone is deemed a key step towards institution building and operational autonomy, enabling the Panel to operate with increased flexibility and impartiality at the international level.

One of the most important pillars of IAPB's future activity, supported by the new resources, will be to create a Policy Lab. This will be designed to assist governments across the globe in developing enabling regulatory environments that can enable high-quality biodiversity credit markets to develop. The Policy Lab will be a knowledge-sharing and evidence-based facility that offers technical advisory services to policymakers and assists in breaking through regulatory barriers that may hinder market development.

In addition to this, the IAPB also works to promote technical standards and advice to maintain the quality and effectiveness of market infrastructure. Where markets for biodiversity credits are developing, it is crucial that credits reflect actual, measurable, and verifiable biodiversity effects. Through establishing and promoting these standards, IAPB aims to establish confidence and trust within the market, a key driver for mobilizing investment at scale.

The second prime area of attention will be to develop IAPB's Community of Practice, which is currently a focal point for bringing project developers, scientists, conservationists, and financiers together to exchange experience, learn from one another, and cooperate to solve problems arising. This network will be not only a technical discussion forum but also an accelerator for the spread of best practices and trans-border collaboration in conservation of biodiversity.

His Majesty King Charles III and President Emmanuel Macron's political support has played a critical role in raising IAPB's mission and keeping pace with momentum on the global agenda for biodiversity finance. The leaders have each consistently underlined the urgency of the need for a fast-tracked and collaborative approach to protecting nature and repairing degraded ecosystems and landscapes, presenting the promise that biodiversity credits hold out to harmonize economic incentive and environmental stewardship.

The joint UK-French backing of IAPB is viewed as a reassertion of the long-term importance of multilateral collaboration in responding to environmental challenges. With global attention shifting towards COP30 in Belém, the reinvigorated IAPB will similarly play a pivotal role in setting the agenda for biodiversity finance debate so that nature-based solutions are not just financed but also held accountable to equity, science, and integrity.

This commitment also shows an increasing awareness on the part of governments and financial organizations that biodiversity preservation is not only a moral obligation but a matter of economic necessity. As habitats everywhere are under extreme threat, efforts such as IAPB are a beacon towards a new paradigm where environmental conservation and economic growth are intertwined.

While the markets for the biodiversity credits progress, the UK-France partnership and the vision of the IAPB set a positive course—a course that is both innovative and responsible and that hopes to flip the world's investment in nature on its head.