Articles & Perspectives
A written group nature-integrity standard governs every project before capital, not after. It is owned by the Natural Capital Task Force — which does not invest — so the body that sets the gate is never the body that wants through it.
The gate asks five things, and none of them can be waived. Free, prior and informed consent. Community benefit-sharing, written and audited. Biodiversity baselines before intervention. Third-party measurement, reporting and verification. No-go criteria that cannot be waived. Tenure, carbon rights, benefit-sharing and permanence are proven before promotion; no project is marketed as core until it is legally clear.
Eligibility gating, consent, safeguards and independent verification triggers sit with the Integrity, MRV & Safeguards Committee, structurally separated from the Investment Committee that decides investability. Drawdowns are released against verified milestones, so measurement is a condition of money rather than a report about it.
Carbon is underwritten conservatively and only where eligible, with buffer provisions held and financing drawdowns tied to verified milestones. Where the measurement does not support the claim, the claim is not made. That is the whole of the gate, and it is why the first conversation with any counterparty is about evidence.
