Biodiversity credits are often described as the next carbon market. The comparison is understandable, but it leads buyers to expect something biodiversity credits cannot deliver: a unit that cancels out an impact somewhere else.
A carbon credit counts tonnes of a gas that mixes evenly in the atmosphere; a biodiversity credit measures the state of a specific place, which no other place can replace. That difference shapes how they are measured, how they can be used and how far the market has come. This article explains both, where the EU stands and what a company can do now.
Two different units
Carbon credit | Biodiversity credit | |
|---|---|---|
Unit | 1 tonne CO2 equivalent | a measured gain or protected state of nature, often hectares adjusted for habitat quality |
Fungible across places | yes, a tonne is a tonne | no, each site is unique |
Main use | reduce or compensate emissions, support climate claims | contribute to nature, report on nature impact |
Offsetting | allowed under conditions | not allowed by the main voluntary standards |
Market maturity | decades of registries and methodologies | early, standards still forming |
Quality references | ICVCM, VCMI, SBTi | IAPB principles, EU plan in progress |
The atmosphere does not care where a tonne of CO2 is removed. A wetland in the Netherlands and a rainforest in Indonesia hold different species, and gaining one does not make up for losing the other. That is why the main voluntary standards do not allow biodiversity credits to be used for offsetting. Verra, for example, states that its Nature Credits “may not be used for offsetting” (Verra Nature Framework).
How biodiversity credits are measured
Each standard defines its own metric, usually combining:
area: how many hectares are restored or protected;
condition: the ecological quality of the habitat, scored against a reference;
indicators: species counts, habitat structure, sometimes acoustic or eDNA monitoring.
Credits are issued for a measured improvement, or for protecting a state that is under threat. Because metrics differ, two biodiversity credits from different standards are not directly comparable, unlike two verified carbon tonnes.
Where the market stands
Voluntary standards: Verra opened certification under its Nature Framework to all projects on 1 January 2026, after a pilot phase. Plan Vivo, Wallacea Trust and others run their own biodiversity standards.
International principles: the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits, set up by the UK and France, published principles for high-integrity biodiversity credit markets at COP16 in October 2024.
EU: the European Commission published its plan towards nature credits in July 2025 (COM(2025) 374). An expert group has met since December 2025, and the Commission is launching a survey of potential buyers in September 2026 to estimate demand (Bellona). France is preparing its own biodiversity credit initiative.
Compliance: in England, most new developments must deliver a 10% biodiversity net gain since February 2024, measured in biodiversity units. That is a regulated offset system for local planning, separate from voluntary credits.
Voluntary biodiversity credit volumes remain small compared with carbon. For a European company, the EU work matters most, because it will decide which certified nature units can be referred to in reporting and claims.
How carbon and biodiversity come together
For most buyers, the practical route to biodiversity today runs through carbon projects. Mangrove restoration, native reforestation and forest protection deliver both carbon and habitat value, and many carry independent biodiversity certification such as the CCB Standards (carbon credit co-benefits). The market already prices this: Sylvera found that reforestation credits with high co-benefit scores rose from an average of USD 19 in December 2024 to over USD 30 in January 2026.
Some projects now issue both: carbon credits for the tonnes and biodiversity credits for the habitat gain. This is called stacking. It is legitimate when each credit measures a different outcome and the buyer does not count one outcome twice. Ask the developer whether the biodiversity outcome is already part of the carbon credit’s price and claims.
Tip from Bernard de Wit, Founder of Regreener: “If a project sells you a carbon credit and a biodiversity credit for the same hectare, ask for two separate monitoring reports. One tonne and one habitat gain can both be real. The same photo of the same forest presented as proof for both is not.”
What a company can do now
Report your nature impact first. CSRD’s biodiversity standard (ESRS E4) and the TNFD recommendations ask where your operations and supply chain affect nature. Credits come after that analysis, not instead of it.
Choose carbon projects with verified biodiversity value. This is the most mature way to fund nature today (blue carbon credits, ARR and IFM credits).
Treat biodiversity credits as contributions. If you buy them, describe them as funding for nature in a named place, without claiming to have compensated your impact.
“We get more questions about biodiversity credits every quarter, and our advice is still to start with carbon projects that have strong, independently verified nature outcomes. The biodiversity credit market is promising, but its units are not yet comparable enough to build a claim on.”
Bernard de Wit, Founder of Regreener
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