If new investments, especially of private capital, are to be encouraged for biodiversity-related activities then criteria and indicators will be required as a means of identifying the investments impact on biodiversity.
In 1995, twelve nations with 90% of the world's temperate and boreal forests came together under the Montreal Process Working Group to endorse a comprehensive set of "criteria and indicators" of sustainable forest management. Today, over 150 countries are beginning to implement such criteria and indicators.
Criteria options include certification processes and ecolabelling schemes for forestry, fisheries, tourism, farming and mining.