Voluntary nature credits market

The development of the nature credits market has become one of the key means to strengthen the protection, management and use of biodiversity and channel private financing to the work for nature.  The leading idea of the nature credits market is that the ecosystem services produced by nature – clean air, water resources and biodiversity – have a financial value which the markets can identify and set a price on.  

Promoting sustainable development and reaching the biodiversity targets, including the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, requires that private investments will supplement the current public financial instruments. Through the nature credits market new market-driven solutions can be found that respond to multiple needs at the same time.  

The nature credits market is a cross-cutting instrument that concerns many different sectors. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry participates in the development of the market-driven nature credits market. The role of the state is to create a reliable framework for the nature values market, including criteria and a verification system for the nature credits produced and their registration and permanence.  

Besides protection, the nature credits market may also be used for restoration, nature management and other economic activities. In the forest sector there has been trade in recreational values for a long time. One of the measures of the National Forest Strategy under the key project Biodiversity in Commercial Forests concerns the development of market-driven models for ensuring environmental benefits. Maintaining biodiversity and the ecosystem services provided by nature also supports climate change mitigation and the adaptation to its impacts.  

In summer 2025 the European Commission published the Roadmap towards Nature Credits

Studies commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry related to the development of the nature credits market: 

• Pellervo Economic Research PTT: Possibilities to develop the Nature Credits Market (2025; in Finnish, abstract in English)
• Tapio: Opportunities and obstacles of the private sector to finance restoration (2026; in Finnish)
• More information on the topic and frequently asked questions on the website of the Ministry of the Environment