Technical Consultant to Develop Guidelines on Biodiversity Credits

Introduction :

Country:   Philippines

 

Description of the Assignment:  

Since 2014, the United Nations Development Program through its Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) Project, has been supporting the Philippine Government in articulating the financial resources it needs to maintain a healthy biodiversity portfolio in-country. In particular, BIOFIN in collaboration with Department of Natural Resources Biodiversity Management Bureau has conducted the following assessments:  1) Policy and Institutional Review (PIR); 2) Public and Private Biodiversity Expenditure Review (PPBER); 3) Assessment of financial needs (cost and gap analysis of implementing Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP)).  These assessments significantly contributed to the development of a Biodiversity Finance Plan.

 

Based on insights gained from the results of the three BIOFIN assessments, this Plan acknowledges the importance of tapping additional financing to support the biodiversity agenda of the Philippines, mainly through its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP), referred to henceforth in this Plan as the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP). This Plan is cognizant of the parallel challenges that could not be addressed by generating financing alone: thus, the Plan transcends the focus on generating additional resources and also identifies a range of “finance solutions” that leverage finance, fiscal and economic tools and strategies to improve the outcome of biodiversity objectives in the country. Financing solutions include a range of transformative actions: generating more financing to fund the PBSAP or associated planning documents; appropriate attribution of biodiversity expenditures in the budget; attaining cost effective budget execution by eradicating overlaps in biodiversity functions; eradicating expenditures that continue to or aggravate dissipation of biodiversity resources; and paving the groundwork for a responsive policy environment through greater awareness on biodiversity and biodiversity financing and enhancing institutional support towards monitoring of PBSAP.

 

One of the finance solutions being considered is biodiversity credit which is defined by the Biodiversity Credit Alliance as a “certificate that represents a measured and evidence-based unit of biodiversity gain.”  Biodiversity gain “is measured as the difference between the project scenario and the business-as-usual scenario.” Biodiversity credits are also mentioned in the Convention on Biological Diversity Global Biodiversity Framework specifically in Target 19 as one of the emerging biodiversity financing instruments. The Philippine government has expressed its interest in this finance solution and is keen in developing an appropriate policy on it.

 

The primary objective of this assignment is to formulate guidelines on biodiversity credits that provide clear and practical guidance for the design, implementation and monitoring of biodiversity credit schemes.

The guidelines should aim to:

1.     Define key concepts and terminology related to biodiversity credits

2.     Outline principles, criteria and standards for generating, trading, and retiring biodiversity credits

3.     Provide methodologies and tools for assessing biodiversity values, quantifying biodiversity gains and losses and determining biodiversity credit eligibility

4.     Identify best practices, case studies and lessons learned from existing biodiversity credit schemes globally

5.     Address governance, legal, institutional and financial aspects of biodiversity credit schemes

6.     Ensure alignment with international biodiversity conservation frameworks, standards and commitments

 

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UNDP-PHL – PHILIPPINES

Deadline :

12-Jun-24 @ 11:59 PM (New York time)

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