Abstract

ABINC Biodiversity Net Gain Certification:
Aiming to Promote Nature-Positive Land Use by Private Companies

Hiroko URASHIMA^1・2, Tetsuro UESUGI^1・3, Takehiko BAN^1・4Hiroshi NAKAMURA^1・4, Yuma URASE^1・5, Manabu EBIHARA^1・5, Shunsuke.KIMURA^1・6, Yukiko BAN^1・6, Takeo ANZAI^6・7

¹General Incorporated Association ABINC Biodiversity Net Gain
²MS&ADCertification Working Group MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc.
³HIBIYA-Amenis CO., LTD
⁴POLYTECH ADD, Inc.
⁵Dia Nippon Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd.
⁶MS&ADInterRisk Research & Consulting, Inc.
⁷General Incorporated Association ABINC

 The General Incorporated Association for the Promotion of Coexistence with Living Beings (hereinafter ABINC) was established in 2013 with the aim of promoting biodiversity-conscious land use by presenting concepts and prescriptions for such land use and making the results of efforts visible. ABINC promotes corporate land use that is considerate of the natural environment primarily by operating the "Ikimono Kyosei Business Site Certification—ABINC" (hereinafter ABINC certification), which certifies corporate green spaces that take biodiversity into account. At COP15 in 2022, targets for achieving "nature-positive" outcomes were adopted, and other countries have been advancing the concepts and implementation of biodiversity net gain and offsets in land development. In Japan, although these ideas have been discussed for some time, there remain no laws or accreditation systems in place. In response, ABINC is developing a new certification scheme—the ABINC Biodiversity Net Gain Certification—designed to complement the existing ABINC certification and help realize nature-positive outcomes. Based on understanding and assessing pre-development natural conditions, this scheme adopts the concept of "net gain," which goes beyond merely compensating for biodiversity losses caused by development to actively enhance the value of ecosystems.