Getting the Metrics Right: The U21 Nature Positive Coalition in Action
9 October 2025
By Professor Carolyn Hogg (University of Sydney), Professor Jill Robbie (University of Glasgow) and Irina Mineva (University of Sydney)
An alliance between U21 universities is helping to support global efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2050.
Carbon markets were meant to deliver climate solutions, but instead they became a testing ground for weak regulation and greenwashing. Now, as the focus turns to creating biodiversity markets, the stakes are high and we need to get it right. If we fail this time, it could result in ecological collapse, economic instability, and the erosion of livelihoods for millions who depend directly on natural systems.
That is why universities across the globe have come together to form the U21 Nature Positive Coalition. This alliance of institutions from Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Indonesia, South Africa, the USA, UK and Sweden are working to test the “State of Nature” metrics developed by the Nature Positive Initiative. These metrics aim to measure terrestrial biodiversity outcomes in emerging biodiversity markets and support global efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2050.
Why getting it right matters
Nature degradation poses a major threat to global stability, as communities are closely tied to natural ecosystems for food, water, health, and livelihoods. A partial collapse of ecosystems by 2030 could cost the global economy an estimated US$2.7 trillion.
To address this crisis, the Nature Positive Initiative launched a set of metrics that business and biodiversity markets can use to measure their nature impacts and mitigation activities. As of mid-2025, the metrics are being piloted by 40 companies across 30 countries, but their social, economic, and ecological effectiveness remains largely untested. Without rigorous validation, biodiversity markets risk repeating the failures of carbon markets, where weak regulation and greenwashing undermined impact.
Building credibility through collaboration
The U21 Nature Positive Coalition project is conducting interdisciplinary research across the globe to ensure the metrics are scientifically credible, socially equitable, and practically implementable. This includes testing in multi-functional landscapes such as agriculture, protected areas, and community-managed lands.
There are five key themes:
1. Restoration and Ecology: Metrics are applied to real-world restoration projects to assess feasibility and scalability. The goal is to create a globally adaptable toolkit that supports biodiversity recovery and informs policy and investment – especially in regions with limited resources.
2. Stewards of the Land: This theme focuses on empowering local and Indigenous land stewards to monitor and report biodiversity gains. It addresses barriers such as cost, technical capacity, and governance, ensuring that small-scale and community-led projects can participate in biodiversity markets and attract investment.
3. Finance: Developing financial models that link biodiversity restoration to economic and social returns is crucial for attracting investment. The project explores how restoration can generate co-benefits like job creation, improved health, and poverty reduction.
4. Legal: This theme identifies legal barriers and opportunities to support restoration efforts, proposing model governance frameworks that align with ecological and social goals. Success will mean restoration projects are legally supported, inclusive, and capable of delivering measurable ecological and social benefits across diverse legal contexts.
5. Socioeconomic/sociopolitical: Restoration must deliver tangible benefits to local communities. This theme evaluates social return on investment, including health improvements, livelihood strengthening, and poverty alleviation. It also explores trade-offs and compensation schemes to ensure fairness and inclusivity.
From metrics to impact
If biodiversity markets are to be effective, they must be grounded in trust. That trust cannot come from corporations alone, nor from governments with competing short-term priorities. It must be built on independent, interdisciplinary, and globally tested evidence. Universities are well placed to provide that — as validators and as sources of rigorous analysis in the development of a nature-positive economy
The U21 Nature Positive Coalition aims to ensure that the metrics used for biodiversity measurement and application are credible and practical as they are integrated into global economic planning. While there are many targets and commitments, what has been missing is the careful work of testing and validating equitable approaches. This coalition addresses that gap, providing the evidence needed for meaningful, scalable action.