Euronews.com reports that the European Commission is considering a market-based system to encourage farmers and industry to conserve nature and restore lost biodiversity by putting a price on ecosystems.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU must create new financial tools to reward farmers who contribute to reversing biodiversity loss and climate breakdown.
She said, “We need new financial tools to compensate farmers for the extra costs of sustainability and compensate them for taking care of the soil, the land, the water and the air. It is time to reward those who serve our planet.”
The comments were made at a conference in Munich, a week after the conclusion of a strategic dialogue on the future of farming in Europe.
Von der Leyen explained that farmers are front line victims of climate change and biodiversity loss, while at the same time “agricultural structures and practices can fuel these crises.” She said, “We need new financial tools, to compensate farmers for the extra costs of sustainability, and compensate them for taking care of land, water, and air.”
Specifically, von der Leyen suggested that a market-based system of nature credits was now actively under consideration.
Von der Leyen said, “Work is already ongoing in the United Nations and in the European Commission to define a global standard for nature credits, because these have to be true nature credits and no greenwashing,” von der Leyen said.
Euronews had contacted the European Commission subsequently, but a spokesperson declined to go into detail about ‘work in progress’, noting only that von der Leyen had briefly broached the same topic at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai last year, where she suggested that nature credits could be used to reward African countries for preserving their rainforests.