Biodiversity credits could be key to funding the conservation of the Earth’s ecosystems, but setting up a functioning market to buy and sell these payment tokens won’t be easy. The World Economic Forum is working on bringing together stakeholders, but admits that a scaled-up market is still some way in the future. It follows the lead of so-called voluntary carbon credits that allow firms to buy credits to offset their own emissions. Those global carbon credit markets are now worth some $2 billion, up from $200 million five years ago, according to environmental-finance data provider Ecosystem Marketplace. “I feel a bit of ‘carbon envy’ when I look at the carbon markets,” Cornell’s Tobin said, noting that biodiversity markets lack a universal metric that can apply to every project, unlike carbon markets where each credit represents one metric ton of carbon dioxide.

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Persons: John Tobin, de la Puente, Tobin, don’t, Cornell’s Tobin, ” Tobin, JULIAN HABER, Zoe Balmforth, ‘, ’ ”, Balmforth, ”, ” Nestlé, Nestlé, biocredits, Markus Mueller, ” Mueller, Joshua Kirby, joshua.kirby@wsj.com Organizations: Economic, Paulson Institute, Cornell University, Credit Suisse, Companies, UN, REUTERS, Sustainable Business, Unilever, Deutsche Locations: Australia, Switzerland, biocredits