Life Certification
Business and Biodiversity
Instituto Ora presents the LIFE Certification as an alternative for managers committed to nature conservation, enabling them to effectively offset their environmental impacts. Through the quantification of impacts and the scoring of conservation actions based on technical and scientifically recognized criteria, the LIFE Certification methodology allows for the evaluation and integration of biodiversity conservation into the business models of any economic activity.
The LIFE Certification supports ESG processes by providing quantifiable and robust data on a company’s performance in business sustainability.
Launched in 2009, Instituto LIFE operates as an international standardization body responsible for the LIFE Methodology and its certification. Using internationally recognized metrics and acknowledged as a robust and globally accepted methodology, it is verified by a third-party certification body, granting companies the title of “Nature Positive.”
The LIFE Methodology initially assesses management indicators at the organizational level and within the supply chain. It also examines ecosystem impacts and dependencies. At this stage, the company’s environmental compliance and management are evaluated, demonstrating the organization’s internal commitment to the conservation of natural resources.
The second step involves quantifying the five impacts evaluated by the methodology: water resources, waste, land use, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions. These values are used to determine the Biodiversity Pressure Index and the Minimum Biodiversity Performance. In this phase, mitigation measures and environmental management improvements are implemented.
The third step is the development of the Biodiversity Action Plan, in which conservation actions are evaluated and scored, the Positive Biodiversity Performance is calculated, and improvements to conservation projects and actions are identified.
The next stage is the certification or verification by a third-party certifying body, which assesses and validates the accuracy and reliability of the information provided by the organization.
Areas with abundant native vegetation can generate biodiversity credits that may be placed on the market or acquired by impact-generating businesses seeking certification.
The role of Instituto Ora is to facilitate the connection between impact generators and biodiversity credit generators, ensuring that native vegetation conservation areas receive financial resources from the biodiversity credits produced through conservation projects.