By Amelia Arreguín-Prado, CBD Women’s Caucus Coordinator
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or opinions of the CBD Women’s Caucus
Between the CBD Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (10–13 February) and the sixth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-6) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), civil society organisations gathered in Rome on 14–15 February for a strategic planning meeting on biodiversity offsets and credits.
About the event
The meeting, convened by Third World Network (TWN) and hosted at the offices of Crocevia, brought together representatives from a range of organisations and networks working on biodiversity governance and environmental justice. The CBD Women’s Caucus was among the networks participating in the discussions.
Taking place at a critical moment in the CBD calendar—immediately following discussions on resource mobilisation and biodiversity finance and just ahead of SBI-6 negotiations—the meeting provided an important opportunity for civil society actors to exchange perspectives on the growing role of market-based instruments in biodiversity policy, including biodiversity offsets, nature credits, and other emerging financial mechanisms.
Participants shared experiences and updates from different regions, highlighting both the rapid expansion of biodiversity credit initiatives and the concerns being raised by communities and civil society organisations. Several interventions pointed to cases where communities are being approached with proposals for credit schemes without sufficient transparency, safeguards, or free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
The discussions also allowed participants to reflect collectively on the implications of these developments for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) and to identify opportunities for stronger coordination across civil society networks in the lead-up to COP17.
Overall, the meeting underscored the importance of continued collaboration, critical engagement, and collective advocacy to ensure that biodiversity finance and emerging market-based instruments do not undermine human rights or community stewardship of biodiversity, but instead contribute to equitable and effective conservation outcomes.