Ecosystem Capital, LLC

28/6/2011

State of Biodiversity Markets Update 2011 - Ecosystem Marketplace (June 2011)



13/6/2011

Sustainable Insight: The Nature of Ecosystem Service Risks for Business - KPMG-UNEP (May 2011)

"Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) degradation and loss has gained business’ attention in recent years. However, while a few leading businesses clearly understand the challenges, a considerable number of businesses that operate in environmentally sensitive sectors, such as extractives, construction, agribusiness, and even finance, do not appear to have this matter fully on their radar screen.

In this issue of Sustainable Insight KPMG, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) review the extent to which companies are prepared to deal with BES challenges and examine whether this response reflects the magnitude of corporate impacts and dependencies on BES."

06/06/2011

Survey: Business Leaders Are Surprised That Sustainability Actually Pays Off - GOOD (31 May 2011)

"It pays to conserve. That's the finding of a survey of 247 executives in the U.S., U.K. and China released by the consulting firm Accenture. Seventy-two percent of them said the benefits of their company's sustainability initiatives exceeded their expectations. ...

The most helpful piece of information from this survey, though, might be the information about what motivates sustainability shifts. The top two drivers, according to these execs, were investor pressure and regulation. Consumer pressure matters, but not as much as the pocketbook and the law. 

Not surprisingly, opinions on whether greening a business was going to pay off financially closely mirrored the actual adoption of green initiatives. The bosses who aren't doing anything to increase sustainability were way more likely to say it doesn't pay. That may be because they're just unconvinced, but they may also be in industries where, frankly, it doesn't boost the bottom line, even if it does help society.

That's were measurement comes in. The profits from sustainability need to be as accurately measured as profits from pollution. "Measuring sustainability performance and results is the first practical step business leaders need to make, but requires new skills and proven methodologies," Berthon says."

4/13/2011

Businesses are increasingly seeing sustainability as a precompetitive issue-The Guardian (9 March 2011)

"If we recognise that sustainability is everyone's concern, the solutions become clear. Big, global companies, guided by market incentives including demand and profitability, recognise this and are beginning to work together to solve these pressing challenges.

Increasingly, they see sustainability as a precompetitive issue. That is, they are working together, even colluding at times; in order ensure natural resources are available for generations to come.

We need to produce more with less, by focusing on three strategies: productivity, efficiency and elimination of waste – while reducing per capita material consumption. No company is big enough to guarantee its sustainability of materials. That is why working together is essential for survival.

...

Recently, in a major step forward, the Consumer Goods Forum, representing about 400 global retailers and brands with about $2.4tn in sales, publicly committed to phasing out deforestation from their supply chains by 2020.

These companies are convinced that we have the ability to produce sufficient raw materials without deforestation. And now they are reaching out to other companies – the finance sector, traders and NGOs such as WWF – to help them achieve their goal."

3/17/2011

TEDxRainier - Rob Harmon - Blue is the New Green: Water Footprints-Youtube (10 Dec 2010)

This is actually happening all over the US and the world but it's great to see that these kind of projects are finally getting some mainstream exposure. It's not just about conserving and protecting the resources we have but also restoring assets that were unrecoverable by traditional policy means or litigation. 

More resources here: BEF Water Restoration Certificates

3/8/2011

Free market Environmentalism with Terry Anderson -Youtube (Part 1 of 4) (2009)

"Free market environmentalism? Isn't that an oxymoron? Not so says Terry Anderson, self-proclaimed free market environmentalist. The FME movement has a rich history based on the tenets of private property rights, and tort law. Jon Caldara sits down with Terry Anderson to get the skinny on the FME movement on this episode of Independent Thinking."

More on and from Terry Anderson here

3/8/2011

SpeciesBanking.com Goes Global -Ecosystem Marketplace (3/7/11)

"With this global launch, SpeciesBanking.com looks to cover biodiversity compensation data from around the world, from information on fish habitat banks in Canada to policy developments on biodiversity offsets in Mongolia and everyplace in between.  All in all, the site will continue to include information on the over 900 species, wetland and stream banks in the United States while adding data from over 27 habitat banks around the world and over 60 policies and programs that provide the underlying drivers for biodiversity markets.

“The concepts of offsetting have become quite sophisticated, but there is a limited awareness among policymakers and the general public about what it means to do species banking,” says Joshua Bishop, the Chief Economist at International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). “A global version of SpeciesBanking.com could help demystify this whole thing and remove some of the red flags.”
...
Currently, the global annual market for biodiversity offsets, compensation and bank credits is around $2 billion and likely much more since this emerging biodiversity market has largely developed under the radar.  The examples found on SpeciesBanking.com are a source of new mechanisms to incentivize investments in biodiversity restoration and protection."

One of the keys to getting habitat banking and other market-style conservation programs to be effective is transparency.  Transparency and the flow of information will allow for real prices to be worked out on different kinds of species/habitats, build confidence in the markets and make them easier to understand.  SpeciesBanking.com is a great forum to do just that. 

2/22/2011

Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Erradication -UNEP (2/21/11)

"The Report is compiled by UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative in collaboration with economists and experts worldwide. It demonstrates that the greening of economies is not generally a drag on growth but rather a new engine of growth; that it is a net generator of decent jobs, and that it is also a vital strategy for the elimination of persistent poverty. The report also seeks to motivate policy makers to create the enabling conditions for increased investments in a transition to a green economy.'

An expansive and detailed breakdown of the vital sectors of a green economy, the challenges it will face, and the steps to get there and succeed. UNEP's website allows for the downloading of individual sections per your interests and needs. 

2/7/2011

Dow asks, What's the Business case for Protecting Nature? -Harvard Business Review (2/3/11)

"...how should companies handle the overuse of natural resources and the reduction in the planet's "biodiversity" (that is, the abundant variation in plant and animal life)?

One large company, Dow, is now tackling this issue, working with the environmental NGO The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to try and make the business logic clearer. This odd couple announced a collaboration last week to "work together to apply scientific knowledge and experience to examine how Dow's operations rely on and affect nature."

But we don't have to wait for their work to come to fruition to cite a number of possible compelling arguments for managing the intersection of business and natural resources well, including:

• Human life support: Earth's natural systems provide "ecosystem services," such as purifying water, enriching soil, providing natural infrastructure that reduce floods and protect assets (think wetlands on the Gulf Coast), and providing clean air and a stable climate (here's a fun video on these services). The long-standing, best estimate on the value of ecosystem services has been $33 trillion annually, roughly the same order of magnitude as the global economy.
• Climate and carbon market value: The world's forests and farms can sequester carbon that could be worth billions in a carbon markets (however, the prospect of a functioning carbon market in the U.S. is very low in the near-term).
• Self-interest: Species provide us medicine and sources of food. We find species that result in blockbuster new drugs to fight heart disease or cancer, for example.
• Business continuity: All companies depend on natural services, such as water, either directly or in their supply chains. For a business wanting to, say, expand a facility, integrating the value of this input into investment decisions will be critical.
• Inspiration, best practices, and biomimicry: Over billions of years, Nature has found the most efficient way to do things. Think of spider silk as a model for strong, flexible fibers or a shark's ultra-efficient movement through water, which has inspired everything from Speedo's now-banned swimsuits to Airbus' more aerodynamic plane fuselages. (See 15 cool biomimicry stories.)
• Innovation: By cataloging our dependencies on nature, we can identify opportunities for better products and services, such as Bayer's drought-resistant crops (Note: Bayer is a client of mine).
• Risk reduction: Managing your nature-sourced supply chain well can help avoid headaches and possible litigation. Gibson Guitars found this out the hard way in 2009 when the Fish and Wildlife Service raided the company for allegedly using illegally harvested rosewood in its instruments (giving an ironic twist to the word "ax")."

2/4/2011

Forest loss slows as Asian nations plant- BBC News (2/2/11)

"Forest loss across the world has slowed, largely due to a switch from felling to planting in Asia.

China, Vietnam, the Philippines and India have all seen their forested areas increase in size.

There are also gains in Europe and North America, but forests are being lost in Africa and Latin America driven by rising demand for food and firewood.

The findings come in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) State of the World's Forests report."

While the global outlook is improving in terms of overall forest loss, efforts must be focused on protecting biodiversity-rich mature forests.  Latin America in particular is a hot spot where economic growth and demand comes up against (and often depends upon) ecological wealth, planting new tree plantations will not account for destroying mature rain-forest.  The overall numbers matter but it is only the starting point. 

2/3/2011

Reviving New York rivers -- with Oysters!- TED Talk -YouTube (1/31/11)

"Architect Kate Orff sees the oyster as an agent of urban change. Bundled into beds and sunk into city rivers, oysters slurp up pollution and make legendarily dirty waters clean -- thus driving even more innovation in "oyster-tecture." Orff shares her vision for an urban landscape that links nature and humanity for mutual benefit.'

An inspirational case study into how relatively low-cost and creative solutions can be scaled up and integrated into a comprehensive and financially/ecologically sustainable framework to address a whole range of related environmental, social and economic issues. 

1/26/2011

Nature: A major company puts a value on the environment -Time Magazine (1/24/11)

"This afternoon at a panel in Detroit, TNC and Dow Chemical announced a $10 million, five-year collaboration that aims to make ecosystem services become a major part of Dow's business. (Download a PDF of the press release here.) TNC's scientists will advise Dow on how the $45 billion company's business decisions impact the environment—and in turn, how the environment affects Dow's business. Ideally, the ecosystem will become a new and major component for Dow's bottom line, putting environmental sustainability on par with business sustainability. "This collaboration is designed to help us innovate new approaches to critical world challenges while demonstrating that environmental conservation is not just good for nature – it is good for business,” said Dow CEO Andrew Liveris in a statement. "Companies that value and integrate biodiversity and ecosystem services into their strategic plans are best positioned for the future by operationalizing sustainability."'

An enormous development for the field and corporate ecosystem service valuation in general.  The CEO's statement calling for strategic plans to find ways to 'operationalize susainability' is dead-on and a challenge to other industry leaders. 

1/26/2011

Survey: Reporting Indicates Corporate Sustainability (1/21/11)

"The vast majority of those reading sustainability reports – 97 percent – say that sustainability reporting itself indicates that a company is improving its performance on sustainability measures.

In the poll commissioned by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), 60 percent of report readers also said that reading a sustainability report positively influences their commitment and connection to an organisation.

The survey of 5,000 readers and writers of sustainability reports was conducted by Futerra Sustainability Communications, SustainAbility Ltd. and KPMG.

Of companies writing reports, 65 percent said the top reason to report on sustainability performance is to improve internal processes."

Another indication that measuring one's actions and baseline impacts is half the battle.  You can't improve and/or reduce impacts effectively if you don't really know what they are. The more comprehensive corporate reporting becomes (water, ecosystems, biodiversity, emissions) eventually the more effective their operations will become. 

12/28/2010

Top FTSE companies face investor backlash on biodiversity - The Ecologist (12/20/10)

"Researchers from the not-for-profit group EIRIS found 58 per cent of the FTSE-listed companies investigated operated in sectors whose activities had a 'considerable' impact on biodiversity. Worryingly, just 6 per cent of these 'high impact' companies were assessed as having a good policy on biodiversity. Good practice could include signing up to voluntary reporting or plans and targets for reducing their impact on biodiversity.

EIRIS says many of the worst-performing companies, particularly in the chemical, drug, construction and property development sectors, could soon find themselves the target of campaign groups and shareholder activism.

'Ten to fifteen years ago companies would be able to put out bland statements that may have convinced some shareholders they were on top of an issue but now you need to look for a lot more evidence and not wishy-washy statements that don't mean anything,' said Mark Robertson, a spokesperson for EIRIS.

Risks to businesses from biodiversity loss include: increased cost of raw materials such as freshwater, higher insurance costs for disasters, new governmental taxes and policies on biodiversity as well as reputational damage from NGO campaigns."

Currently the bar for "good practice" in terms of reducing corporate impact on biodiversity has not been set very high.  Even such simple steps as taking and initial biodiversity inventory, setting impact reduction targets and most of all becoming conscientious of the impacts corporate operations can have on biodiversity will go a long way towards preempting regulatory or public pressure and strategically positioning the company for the emergence of new biodiversity markets and revenue streams.

12/21/2010

Google opens world's forests for all to see (12/13/10)

"With Earth Engine, small nations, nonprofit groups, independent researchers and everyone else will be able to assess an environmental crisis of growing magnitude: deforestation. No longer will these groups have to rely on a handful of distant academic or government labs to access the information....

It's transformational," said Greg Asner, a scientist with the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University, shortly after he described the application Dec. 2 at the United Nation's climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, which ended Friday.

Asner flew to this resort city to announce the successful download of 26 years of data from Landsat, the oldest Earth-observing satellite, into Google's computers. By next year, Asner expects that software he developed for monitoring deforestation will be integrated into Google Earth Engine for public use. Anyone with Internet access will have a free view of forest conditions dating as far back as 1984.

Google's new platform will be a game-changer, truly democratizing and opening up previously siloed and isolated environmental datasets to the public, NGOs, companies and community groups. 

Google's blog post on the new platform is here

Google Earth Engine

12/8/2010

Humans are more at risk from diseases as biodiversity disappears (12/7/10)

"People often ask me, "Why should I care if a species goes extinct? It's not essential to my daily life, is it?"

Well, according to new research published December 2 in Nature, the answer is yes—healthy biodiversity is essential to human health. As species disappear, infectious diseases rise in humans and throughout the animal kingdom, so extinctions directly affect our health and chances for survival as a species."

11/9/2010

Why a Paper Company Started Berry Picking -Harvard Business Review (10/12/10)

"...Inland Empire Paper (IEP), which owns over 114,000 acres of timberland in Washington and Idaho. IEP is still harvesting timber (enough for 2,500 houses a year, they say), but they're also realizing income on the same land from the burgeoning recreation market. For a $40 annual permit ($65 for families), you can hike, ski, snowshoe, cut Christmas trees, gather firewood or go berry picking on the company's private woodland. Potlatch, another big timber company, offers turkey hunting in Arkansas, ruffed grouse in Wisconsin and elk, deer and bear in Idaho. Not that the idea of realizing new revenue streams from active agricultural land is exactly new — think Napa Valley. "

Many companies are already benefiting from generating new revenue streams, reducing costs and improving relations with the community and regulators by developing the natural capital of their land assets which were previously only used for single-use industrial purposes. 

11/2/2010

What is biodiversity offsetting and how would it work -The Ecologist (9/12/10)

"One of those market instruments is biodiversity offsetting, or 'bio-compensation'. Quite simply, if a developer is going to build something that will damage or destroy a habitat of conservation value then they must buy a ‘bio-credit’ to compensate for that loss elsewhere.

The idea is not new. In the US a wetland banking scheme where public or private developers restore, establish or enhance an aquatic resource to compensate for any unavoidable damage they cause has been in existence since the 1970s. More than 400 wetland banks have now been established in a market worth more than $3 billion a year.

Initially, developers undertook the compensatory work themselves, but gradually a credits-based system emerged where a third party with expertise in conservation takes on the work....

...The idea of getting a conservation benefit that would previously not have happened makes Carter optimistic that bio-compensation schemes will eventually gain widespread acceptance.

‘If for example you could have a piece of tropical rainforest that you need to flood for a dam and not very far away you have some degraded rainforest which you know is not going to be put right and more than likely to be turned into ranch land.

'If the developer comes along and acquires that and re-establishes the rainforest there well you are correcting with something that would not have previously happened. You are getting additionality and that is the key,’ said Carter." 

 Not a panacea for all our environmental problems but biodiversity offsets could certainly go a long way towards restraining net biodiversity loss while allowing for robust economic development as well.  The key is strong controls on offset certification, wide-spread compliance, and eventually a robust market for offset credits that allows costs to be allocated efficiently. When done properly it is one of the most efficient ways to make biodiversity a visible and accounted for part of the modern global economy. 

10/19/2010

The new green economy -Wired (10/10/10)

'"Want to save nature? Put a price on it. A new green approach is to put a market value on ecosystems -- and preserve the planet along the way...

It’s an approach that’s spreading throughout the environmental world after years of resistance: by some accounts, turning nature into a sound investment represents the last hope of saving it. Humanity’s survival depends on healthy ecosystems -- for freshwater, fertile soil, flood protection and climate control. Scientists call these benefits “ecosystem services”, and society generally takes them for granted. We assume rivers will run to the oceans, soil will sustain crops, major cities won’t drown. Yet these assumptions are becoming less certain. And despite our dependence on nature, we essentially value it, financially at least, at nil....

Today, the ecosystem-services model is finally starting to take hold in the US, where the Department of Agriculture now has an Office of Ecosystem Markets. State and local governments are also getting involved. A law passed in Oregon last year encourages state agencies to use market-based approaches to conservation....

In South America, the Nature Conservancy is also using the value of clean water to bankroll conservation. Companies that rely on consistent, clean water downstream -- a hydroelectric power provider, an urban water utility, a brewery -- pay to protect the watershed upstream. In the northern Andes, water funds are protecting native forests and paramos, unique neotropical ecosystems whose plants and soils regulate the release of water. “The water funds have taken hold because they’re very simple and straightforward,” said Rebecca Goldman, a former student of Daily’s who’s now a senior scientist with the conservation group. “The water utilities know the value of conservation for their resource. Clean water allows people to live. It’s tangible.”...

Despite the flurry of ecosystem-services projects around the globe, many of which are succeeding financially and environmentally, the efforts are still piecemeal. To truly give nature a place in the global economy, to give financial value to the vital services it provides, will require a major shift in the way we think. As resources become scarcer, and thus more valuable, that shift may finally be under way. But mental and philosophical shifts aren’t the only obstacles: building a new economy based on natural capital requires willing investors -- lots of them."'

A great article summing up the necessity for a green economy along with some of the opportunities and many of the challenges we will face.  If you'd like to understand what we do at Ecosystem Capital this isn't a bad place to start. 

World Bank Works to Put a Price on Ecosystems' Value -Reuters (11/5/10) 

The Little Biodiversity Finance Book -Global Canopy Program (10/20/10) 

Nature's gift: The economic benefits of preserving the natural world -BBC News (10/24/10)

India set to be first country to publish 'natural wealth' accounts -The Guardian (10/20/10) 

UN Japan forum 'key time' to solve global nature crisis -BBC News (10/18/10) 

Biodiversity: The race to save the world's diverse natural wonders -The Guardian (10/10/10) 

Forest biodiversity at risk -FAO Press Release (10/4/10) 

"Pollination crisis" hitting India's vegetable farmers - BBC News (9/28/10)

Carbon Trading May Dwarf That of Crude Oil-CNBC (9/29/10) 

Plant species in peril, report warns -CNN (9/30/10) 

Putting a price on biodiversity-what are species worth? -The Guardian (9/28/10)

The long road to sustainability - The Economist (9/23/10)

Forests and how to save them: The world's lungs - The Economist (9/23/10)

A Special Report on Forests: Seeing the Wood -The Economist (9/23/10)

UN Proposes Rescue Package to Halt Loss of Biodiversity - InDepthNews (9/22/10)

Natural Capital: The True Wealth of Nations -New Statesman (9/16/10)

Game conservation in Africa: Horns, claws and the bottom line -The Economist (9/2/10) 

Natural Capital: The True Wealth of Nations -New Statesman (9/16/10) 

Does Healthcare Cash Grow on Trees? -Ecosystem Marketplace (9/14/10) 

Scientific Assessment of Hypoxia in U.S. Coastal Waters- White House Press Release (9/3/10) 

The Ecosystem Marketplaces Mitigation Mail -Ecosystem Marketplace (9/2/10) 

Factoring the planet's multi-trillion dollar ecosystem services into policy-making can save lives and jobs- UNEP (9/9/10) 

USFS Report: 'Ecosystem Services' at Risk From Suburban Development- NY Times (8/19/10) 

Banks Grow Wary of Environmental Risks

Pavan Sukhdev on the green economy- The Economist (7/16/10) 

Q and A: A Pay Model for Ecosystems- NY Times (7/18/10) 

Biodiversity is climbing the corporate agenda- Energy-Enviro (7/13/10) 

Nested REDD+ Vital in Forest Solution: Report- Carbon Positive (7/6/10) 

Project makes it pay to go green- Vietnam News (6/23/10) 

China: the Unappreciated Ecosystem Entrepreneur- Ecosystem Marketplace (6/15/10) 

UN's 'IPCC for nature' to fight back against destruction of natural world- The Guardian (6/11/10) 

Confronting the Biodiversity Crisis- Nature (5/5/10) 

UK's first 'conservation credit' scheme launched- The Guardian (5/28/10) 

Our Next Debt Crisis Will Be Ecological - Green Biz -(6/7/10) 

UN says case for saving species 'more powerful than climate change' - The Guardian -(5/21/10) 

Trees Fare Well in Latest US Climate Bill- Ecosystem Marketplace (5/24/10) 

Emissions Reductions is Top Environmental Concern for U.S. Business- Environmental Leader (5/21/10) 

Norway, U.S. May Pledge Up to $6 Billion to Fight Deforestation- Bloomberg (5/21/10) 

A 50-Year Farm Bill- NY Times-Opinion (1/4/09) 

Economic report into biodiversity crisis reveals price of consuming the planet- The Guardian UK (5/21/09) 

Study Shows Conservation Helps Poverty- Nature Blog (5/24/10) 

UN Biodiversity Boss Says Convergence with Carbon Markets Could Turn REDD+ Into Win-Win for Species- Ecosystem Marketplace (5/19/09) 

Environmental markets at centre of Chesapeake clean-up plan - Environmental Finance  (5/13/10) 

We have an international market for carbon, why not one for conservation? - The Guardian  (5/17/10) 

We Can Live Without Oil, But Not Without Flora and Fauna- Tierra America (5/10/10) 

Top 10 Reasons Mother Nature is 'Too Big to Fail'- Environmental Leader (5/4/09) 

How much are the ecosystems of New Jersey worth to society?- Conservation Maven (4/28/10) 

World's 2010 nature target 'will not be met'- BBC (4/29/10) 

Brazil farmers shown how to profit by conserving- Reuters (4/7/10) 

Measuring What Matters: GDP, Ecosystems and the Environment - WRI (4/14/10)

Building a Green Economy- Paul Krugman - NY Times (4/5/10)

Restoring natural capital in degraded landscapes - BBC (3/23/10)

Seeds of Change for US Environmental Markets - Ecosystem Marketplace (3/19/10)

USDA News Release-OEM - USDA (3/10/10) 

Companies That Aggressively Pursue Sustainability Are Reaping Benefits - Social Funds (3/17/10)

Price Fixing: Why it is Important to Put a Price on Nature -  The Economist (1/18/10)

Biodiversity near 'point of no return' - BBC News (1/17/10)

Desert Vistas vs. Solar Power -  New York Times (12/21/09)

Mitigation Mail -- Ecosystem Marketplace (12/16/09)

Climate Talks Near Deal to Save Forests - New York Times (12/15/09)

Markit, C-Questor launch new carbon standard - Reuters (12/15/09)

Informal Talks Resume in Copenhagen: What Does it Mean for REDD? - Ecosystem Marketplace (12/14/09)

Business Tackling Climate Change on the Ground -- WBCSD (12/09/09)

Water Cap and Trade? Coming Soon to a Watershed Near You -- Triplepundit.com (12/09/09)

California Drafts its Own Cap-and-Trade Plan (11/25/09)

Scarce Water Resources a Growing Business Risk (11/25/09)

'Stern review' of biodiversity calls for more ecosystem markets (11/19/09)

New Global Water Disclosure Project: A Call to Action to the Corporate Sector (11/19/09)

When is Credit Stacking a Double Dip? (11/16/09)

Environmental Economics: How Much Is a Tree Worth? -- Newsweek.com (11/13/09)

Invest in Nature Today, Save Trillions Tomorrow: Study (11/13/09)

U.S. calls for more action to restore Chesapeake Bay (11/10/09)

EPA Drafts Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Strategy -- NPR (11/09/09)

Study Finds More Value in Peat CO2 Credits (11/09/09)

Costing the Earth: Investing in Protecting the Planet -- CNN.com (11/07/09)

California Raises the Bar -- and the Stakes -- for Forestry Projects Across the U.S. (11/06/09)

Disney Buys $7M in Reforestation Offsets -- a Corporate Record (11/05/09)

One Committee Down for Senate Climate Bill, Five More to Go (11/05/09)

Carbon Trading: How To Save A Forest (11/04/09)

Using forests to finance conservation and communities in a former war zone: Colombia's Choco (11/03/09)

Global Climate Talks Set Carbon Offsets in Motion, Market May Quadruple by 2015 (11/02/09)

Carbon Registry Bolstered by Credit Transfer System (11/01/09)

SEC Guidance May Lead CO2 Policy Risk Disclosure (11/01/09)

Companies struggling to address natural resource exposures (10/29/09)

Priceless Assets? (10/28/09)

Financial Solutions: Major U.S. investment firms back forests as carbon credit generators (10/25/09)

Bit by Bit: a Canadian Federal Offset System (10/15/09)

EPA Vows Better Effort on Water (10/15/09)

Toxic Waters Series -- New York Times 

Copenhagen Isn't Make-or-Break Event of Climate Talks, Chu Says (9/15/09)

Will the Environmental Protection Agency Clamp Down on Runoff? (9/14/09)

Markit: Gathering -- and Mining -- the Data for Tomorrow's Ecosystem Marketplace (9/14/09)

In Brazil, Paying Farmers to Let the Trees Stand (8/21/09)

Vilsack calls for renewed emphasis on forests (8/14/09)

Building Oregon's Ecosystem Marketplace (8/05/09)

Serious climate talks hinge on U.S. bill: lawmaker (8/06/09)

Report on Warming Offers New Details (6/17/09)

US report to press case for quick moves on climate (6/15/2009)

Farm Offsets Likely in Final Climate Change Law, Vilsack Says (6/11/09)

Midwest States Call for 20% Reduction in GHG Emissions (6/10/09)

Damage to Ecosystems Can Lead to Financial Losses and Reputational Risks for Companies (6/10/09)

21st Century Noah's Ark needed to save coral reefs from extinction (6/06/09)

House May Fast-Track Climate Legislation (6/04/2009)

New Study Calculates Carbon Exposure of S&P 500 (6/02/09)

Investors Demand Carbon-Risk Disclosure (6/01/09)

U.S. Corporations Size Up Their Carbon Footprints (6/01/2009)

World governments to miss goal of protecting 10 percent of every ecoregion by next year (6/01/2009)

Vilsack urges farmers to embrace carbon emissions cap (6/01/09)

Polluted, degraded ecosystems can recover in less than a lifetime (5/31/2009)

Struggling to Find Mitigation as Roads Replace Wetlands (5/31/09)

Carbon Offsets: A Small Price to Pay For Efficiency (5/30/09)

Fortifying the Foundation: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2009 (5/26/09)

WBCSD Hones in on Ecosystem Valuation (5/25/09)

A Global Model: The Case for Water Quality Markets in Chesapeake Bay (5/20/09)

USDA Looks To Link Economic Markets With Ecological Systems (5/14/2009)

Top 10 Reasons Mother Nature is 'Too Big to Fail' (5/04/2009)

EU environment agency calls for 'ecosystem pricing' (4/29/2009)

G8, poor nations sign deal to halt biodiversity loss (4/24/09)

Environmental values: How to ensure the environment is properly accounted for -- Economist.com (4/13/09)

The Price Is Not Right (4/01/09)

Want the Money? Learn the Language! (March 24, 2009)

Economic crisis hits conservation but may offer opportunities, says TNC president (3/03/09)

Payments for eco services could save the Amazon (2/12/2009)

Natural Value (2/12/09)

Ecosystem Markets Take Off (1/13/09)