SAO PAULO, Dec 13 (Reuters) - As the U.N. COP15 summit in Montreal aims to halt rapid destruction of nature and restore degraded lands, some experts have called for selling "biodiversity credits" to help pay for that monumental task.
The United Nations said the world is far short of the $384 billion needed annually by 2025 to protect nature. Biodiversity credits, proponents argue, can help close the gap.
The concept is based on carbon credits, where each unit represents a reduction of 1 tonne of greenhouse gas emissions, through efforts such as using renewable energy or planting trees.
When it comes to nature conservation, though, there is no single metric to measure progress. Few analysts agree on what credits should look like, how they should be used, or even whether they should be called credits. Some say the effort could backfire, for example by enabling companies to buy credits tied to one area to excuse destruction elsewhere.
"There are still a lot of unanswered questions. It's almost too early to know where this is headed," said analyst Jonathan Crook with Carbon Market Watch.
The most difficult question is how to value biodiversity, the variety of life from frogs and fungi to forests. The more species contained in an area, the "richer" its biodiversity.
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