Biodiversity Credits: Demand Analysis and Market Outlook

The report analyzes the nascent biodiversity credit market, defining these credits as verifiable and tradeable units of restored or preserved biodiversity. It identifies key demand drivers—including regulatory pressure, ecosystem dependencies, and corporate reputation—and outlines five use cases, ranging from enhancing carbon credits to the contested use of credits to address unmitigated impacts. The report projects that under an 'effective development' scenario, global demand could reach $2 billion by 2030 and $69 billion by 2050. It emphasizes that market growth depends on establishing a clear business case for buyers, developing high-integrity supply, and consolidating common standards and measurement metrics.

• Biodiversity credits are defined as a "verifiable and tradeable financing instrument that rewards positive outcomes for biodiversity over a fixed period," representing units of biodiversity that are being restored or preserved.
• The report identifies four primary use cases for biodiversity credits: enhancing nature-based carbon credits, securing access to ecosystem services as business inputs, contributing to nature recovery beyond a company's own impacts, and bundling nature recovery with products for consumers.
• A fifth use case—using credits to take responsibility for unmitigated biodiversity impacts—is currently contested and not broadly accepted due to a lack of market infrastructure and standards for "acceptable equivalence."
• Under an 'effective development' scenario, global demand for biodiversity credits is estimated to reach $2 billion in 2030 and $69 billion in 2050. A 'limited development' scenario projects $760 million by 2030 and $6 billion by 2050, while a 'transformational' scenario suggests $7 billion by 2030 and $180 billion by 2050.
• The biodiversity credit market is currently very small, with an estimated annual value of $8 million, and could grow 100-fold this decade if supporting conditions are met.
• High-integrity supply requires projects to meet strict expectations regarding additionality, permanence, and non-leakage, and must be designed in partnership with Indigenous peoples and local communities to ensure equitable benefit-sharing.
• Technological innovations in measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV)—such as eDNA, bioacoustics, and remote sensing—are critical to reducing costs and ensuring the quality of credits.
• There is a significant gap in corporate nature strategies; while 86% of large companies have set climate strategies, only 5% have developed strategies that explicitly consider nature or biodiversity.
• The report suggests that if 100% of nature-based carbon projects issued stacked biodiversity and carbon credits, they could support $43 billion of biodiversity credit revenues per year by 2050.
• Corporate buyers who expect to participate in the market indicate they may be ready to engage in two to three years, though smaller companies may move faster.

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Biodiversity Credits: Demand Analysis and Market Outlook. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2023_Biodiversity_Credits_Demand_Analysis_and_Market_Outlook.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Biodiversity Credits: Demand Analysis and Market Outlook. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2023_Biodiversity_Credits_Demand_Analysis_and_Market_Outlook.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Biodiversity Credits: Demand Analysis and Market Outlook |date=December 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2023_Biodiversity_Credits_Demand_Analysis_and_Market_Outlook.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2023biodiversity, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Biodiversity Credits: Demand Analysis and Market Outlook}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2023_Biodiversity_Credits_Demand_Analysis_and_Market_Outlook.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }