This Communication emphasizes the importance of cooperation with stakeholders in the next steps shaping the actions of the next years.
The European Commission has published a Communication titled Roadmap towards Nature Credits on 7 July 2025. This roadmap is the first official publication from the Commission on the topic of nature credits that aim to contribute to mobilising private sector financing for biodiversity in the EU.
The roadmap presents a two-step approach for nature credits. The first step is biodiversity certification, which can be issued prior to the realisation of full results. This can be followed in the second step by nature credits, a transactable unit that could monetise the demonstrated impact. Additionally, the roadmap outlines some possible business cases and emphasises learning from and building on carbon markets. Cooperating with stakeholders is also given an important role. More specific definitions, technical criteria, methodologies, and governance frameworks are expected to be outlined and presented next year.
Moreso, the roadmap also outlines some more concrete actions for the upcoming years, including the establishment of an expert group and an additional designated pilot project. These actions aim to support the Commission in its considerations for the next steps for the scaling up of EU nature markets in 2027.
Although this is only the first step toward the potential establishment of an EU nature credits market, this initiative presents interesting opportunities for European forest owners. At the same time, significant work remains to address the many open questions and challenges before such a market can be fully implemented and begin generating revenue and biodiversity benefits. European forest owners hope that the European Commission will continue its work in a participatory and transparent manner.
For a more detailed overview of forest owners’ perspectives, CEPF published a position paper on nature credits on 6 June 2025, available here.
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