Biodiversity as a project lever

Understand, structure, act. IRICE is publishing a series of short articles designed to help decision-makers integrate biodiversity into real estate projects in a clear, measurable and operational way. Aimed at local authorities, project owners, developers and investors, these articles address recurring sticking points, existing tools, and concrete levers for making biodiversity a project asset, not a formal constraint. ➤ All content is written by the IRICE team based on real cases, field feedback and shared experience.

From commitment to results: why cities need a biodiversity evidence framework

Today, local authorities are at the forefront of the ecological transition. But while voluntary commitments are multiplying - platforms, pacts, objectives - one structuring question remains: how to assess, certify and demonstrate the real ecological performance of projects? Against a backdrop of rising regulatory expectations, ESG criteria and the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), urban biodiversity must now be based on evidence, not intentions. This is where Effinature comes in.

🌍 The Global Biodiversity Framework finally recognizes the central role of local authorities

Decision 15/6 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) officially invites cities and local governments to commit to implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The CitiesWithNature and Berlin Urban Nature Pact platforms, along with measurement tools such as the 3-30-300 rule, are now structuring these commitments.

This framework is a step forward. But it raises an essential question: how can voluntary commitments be transformed into measurable, verifiable results?

🧩 Intention is no longer enough: you have to demonstrate

Local authorities are stepping up their actions:

greening of roadways,
waterproofing,
green frames,
renaturation of urban spaces.

But behind the diversity of projects, one stumbling block remains:

Measurement methods are still heterogeneous, non-comparable and often declarative.

However, alignment with ESG frameworks, the European green taxonomy and public policy now requires opposable evidence, not just intentions.

🛠️ Effinature: a GBF-compatible certification framework

Developed and audited by IRICE, the Effinature standard makes it possible to :

certify the real ecological performance of an urban project,
objectify its contribution to the GBF,
translate a voluntary commitment into auditable evidence, at project, neighborhood or property level.

Effinature is based on :

a functional reading of ecosystems (soils, cohabitation, webs),
reproducible indicators,
independent governance.

Compatible with the principles of the Berlin Pact and the CitiesWithNature reporting logic, Effinature offers a credible foundation for demanding local authorities.

🧭 For local authorities: avoid the declarative trap

Commitment pacts are essential. But at a time when funding, rankings and regulatory arbitration are being aligned with standards of proof, local authorities need to ensure that their biodiversity trajectory is based on a verifiable method.

Effinature enables this translation: from voluntarism to results, from discourse to demonstration.

📌 Conclusion: an international framework calls for a verifiable local method

Local authorities play a key role in reclaiming the living world. But for a local project to make a real contribution to a global objective, it has to be able to prove it.

IRICE is ready to support local authorities, in complete independence, so that every square meter of renatured land can demonstrate its real ecological compatibility.