The voluntary carbon market (VCM) declined by 57% in 2024. Why? Because the market realized that "offsets" often don't deliver the integrity they promise.
But the UNEP State of Finance for Nature report highlights a paradox: while carbon-only offsets are struggling, nature-based instruments that provide biodiversity and social co-benefits still command a massive price premium. Investors don't want less nature; they want more integrity.
step 1: move from offsets to ensurance
An offset is reactive—it's an attempt to compensate for damage after it's done. Ensurance is proactive. It funds the protection of an intact ecosystem before it's degraded.
As the UNEP report points out, protection is the most cost-effective intervention, yet it receives only a fraction of global funding. By switching your strategy from buying offsets to paying ensurance premiums, you are funding the highest-leverage conservation activity available.
step 2: map your dependencies (not just your emissions)
Your carbon footprint is only one dimension of your nature-negative impact. To truly transition, you need to understand your ecosystem service dependencies.
- Identify: Use the 19 ecosystem service categories to see what your business actually uses (water, pollination, risk resilience).
- Locate: Map these dependencies to specific watersheds or bioregions.
- Ensure: Buy specific ensurance certificates for the natural assets in those regions.
- Quantify: Understand the ROI—restoring degraded lands yields $7–30 for every $1 invested (Verdone et al. 2017).
step 3: use onchain verification
The UNEP report notes that "impact mitigation finance" currently lacks standardized metrics. We solve this by moving the entire verification loop onchain.
When you buy an ensurance certificate, the proceeds flow through a transparent protocol to the stewards on the ground. The ecological condition of the asset is tracked via 200+ indicators, providing the "high-integrity" data that the 2026 report calls for but says is currently missing from the market.
frequently asked questions
is this just another name for biodiversity credits?
No. While biodiversity credits are often used as offsets, ensurance is a proactive risk management tool. It's about securing the natural infrastructure your business depends on, not just checking a compliance box.
how do I know the money actually goes to nature?
Every transaction is onchain. You can track the flow of proceeds from your wallet directly to the tokenbound account of the agent responsible for the natural asset. No middleman, no opaque management fees.
what's the return on investment?
Restoring degraded lands yields $7–30 for every $1 invested. By ensuring intact ecosystems, you are avoiding the even higher costs of future restoration and disaster recovery.
next steps
The transition to a nature-positive economy is no longer optional—it's a requirement for survival in a $7 trillion nature-negative world.