We welcome the opportunity to express our views on this very important document, that aims at promoting biodiversity credit markets “with social safeguards.” What makes this document crucially important is that it is issued by the Community Advisory Panel (CAP) of the Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA), a self-governed body of over 40 Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities members from across the world, whose role is to promote their rights, interests, and priorities into UN’s blueprint for an international biodiversity credit market.
We find that the process is biased leading to an extremely low chance – if any at all – for IPLCs to weigh significantly on the outcome, while their participation risks legitimising a biased process and forum.
We also find that several crucial statements in the draft are inconsistent and/or politically naive, opening the door to an international biodiversity offset market, in contradiction with IPLCs stated aspirations.
We conclude that IPLCs’ rejection of the commodification of nature, of the polluter pay principle and of biodiversity offsetting should lead them to explicitly reject the biodiversity credit market proposed, and to call instead for rich countries to change their lifestyle and curb their destruction at home.