The WEF's late-2023 report is unambiguous: biodiversity credits could become a structuring lever of environmental finance. But the market remains embryonic and exposed to strong methodological criticism.
The WEF finding: a still-unstable market
The 2023 WEF report confirms several key points:
- There is growing interest in biodiversity credits, particularly as voluntary contributions.
- But supply remains fragmented, without a shared framework for definition, measurement or governance.
- The main barriers cited are: the absence of a standardised unit, the fear of renewed greenwashing, the lack of trusted third parties, and the difficulty of linking projects to verifiable ecological results.
In short: a strong need, but a missing infrastructure.
Credits and scores: do not confuse a financial instrument with an assessment tool
The report stresses that credits can only be credible if they rest on:
- a prior assessment of the site or project,
- identified pressures,
- measurable dynamics,
- transparent monitoring.
Yet these elements do not belong to the market. They belong to the method.
This is where IRICE comes in. The Biodiversity Performance Score is a scientific, independent and reproducible assessment tool. It does not create a credit. It measures actual ecological performance.
Effinature: anticipating market maturity
Effinature, a standard developed and certified by IRICE, makes it possible to:
- assess an urban or territorial project according to its ecological performance,
- certify its effects on biodiversity (functions, pressures, cohabitation),
- objectify its actual environmental benefits,
- provide evidence compatible with future ESG requirements or contribution credits.
In other words: Effinature structures today what markets will look for tomorrow.
For public and private players: do not wait for the rules to structure action
Many project owners wait for the market to organise itself before acting. But that is like building without a plan.
Local authorities, developers, urban planners and asset managers can already objectify their actions, structure their biodiversity reporting, and guarantee a trajectory compatible with the Global Biodiversity Framework, thanks to the BPS and Effinature certification.
Conclusion
Biodiversity credits may be the future. But without proof, they will remain a promise. The only possible foundation is a reproducible, independent and enforceable measurement.
This is what we have been building since 2023. At IRICE, we do not sell living systems. We certify their regeneration.
IRICE
Organisme certificateur indépendant, accréditation Cofrac n°5-0655 — ISO/IEC 17065
Cofrac Accreditation No. 5-0655, Product, Process and Service Certification, scope available at www.cofrac.fr.