Insetting is more than just a conservation strategy; it’s a transformative approach to aligning business operations with the ecosystems they rely upon. At Verdant, we’re pioneering this concept, offering services that integrate insetting into the very fabric of a company’s value chain. Our aim? To foster a sustainable business model that not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions but also champions holistic ecological stewardship.
What Does Biodiversity Insetting Mean?
In simple terms, insetting is like bringing the concept of offsetting home. Instead of investing in distant, unrelated projects to offset emissions, companies invest directly in their own supply chains. This could mean supporting the farms from which they source materials or even the broader communities and ecosystems surrounding those farms. The result? A myriad of positive impacts, from carbon sequestration to enhanced biodiversity and strengthened community livelihoods. With Verdant’s guidance, businesses can transition from merely doing ‘less harm’ to actively creating a ‘greater good’.
The Growing Momentum of Insetting
For businesses, especially those reliant on land, insetting is rapidly becoming a strategic tool to address Scope 3 emissions and align with Science-Based Targets. It offers compelling narratives, especially for products rooted in agriculture, inviting consumers to be part of the solution. By integrating insetting, companies can not only manage climate risks but also move towards a nature-positive approach, fostering stronger business cases.
While offsetting provides a way to compensate for emissions, insetting offers a more integrated approach, directly addressing a company’s value chain. Verdant believes insetting is a credible strategy for companies aiming to align with transition to sustainable business models, and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.
While many insetting interventions are nature-based, focusing on ecosystem restoration or conservation, it’s not a strict requirement. Insetting, as practiced by Verdant, often emphasizes nature-based solutions, but it can also include community-driven initiatives that indirectly benefit nature, such as water filtration projects or sustainable logging.
The Science Based Targets initiative acknowledges that there isn’t a universally accepted definition or methodology for insetting projects. However, under specific conditions, insetting projects might count towards SBT. We expect that there will be new guidlines emerging in the near future.
While the concept of insetting has roots in carbon offsetting, it’s not strictly about generating carbon credits. At Verdant, we view insetting as a broader initiative. It can focus on enhancing community livelihoods or conserving biodiversity, even if these actions don’t directly produce carbon credits.
While there isn’t a global standard for insetting verification (yet!), many businesses, including Verdant, opt for independent verification to enhance the credibility of their insetting projects. We select standards that align with our project’s primary impacts, utilizing frameworks from entities like Plan Vivio, Gold Standard, Verra, Rainforest Alliance, and the IPI’s Insetting Program Standard.
Furthermore, our Nature Tech solution will provide almost real-time robust data from the project side to increase transparency and quality.
For the future, we envision a decentralized on-chain process that streamline the verification to a network of independent sources.
