The Verifiable Nature Unit – critical infrastructure for nature finance
Main Room
The Verifiable Nature Unit: Moving from pilot to practice - how a standardized, outcomes-based approach can unlock public and private capital for nature, and what’s needed to take it further.
The Verifiable Nature Unit (VNU) is a standardised and independently verified outcomes-based funding mechanism that measures nature outcomes linked to ecosystem integrity. It underpins a range of nature finance instruments, including bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, grants, credits, nature-linked equity, PES schemes, and compliance markets. This panel, a follow-up to COP16, will reflect on progress made in developing the VNU approach, applying use cases, and lessons from initial pilot issuances. We’ll also explore what’s needed to make the VNU more accessible and investable—ultimately enabling more diverse capital to flow toward the protection and restoration of natural capital.