Volume 3, Issue 3: This feature highlights the Business and Biodiveristy related decisions and events at COP 9 in Bonn.
Since before the CBD was born, when it was just a twinkle in the eye of the delegates to the UN Conference on Environment and Development, the need for innovative mechanisms to integrate conservation into economic decision-making has been obvious. I have been involved with the CBD since before Rio, wearing every badge of accreditation available (Secretariat, IGO, NGO, Government, Industry) except the one for indigenous peoples — sadly an unlikely prospect, as I am half Welsh and half Dutch. As time goes by, the need to engage business has become ever more pressing and, fortunately, the opportunities to do so have grown. Companies and civil society are looking for practical approaches to balance development activities and conservation. Biodiversity offsets offer one such approach, so it is a privilege to be working with the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme (BBOP). BBOP is a partnership of 40 companies, governments, conservation experts and financial institutions from around the world that are members of its Advisory Committee (1) with over 600 other individuals and organisations affiliated through its Learning Network.
Biodiversity offsets are measurable conservation outcomes resulting from actions designed to compensate for significant residual adverse biodiversity impacts arising from project development and persisting after appropriate prevention and mitigation measures have been implemented. Their goal is to achieve no net loss, or preferably a net gain, of biodiversity on the ground with respect to species composition, habitat structure and ecosystem services, including livelihood aspects. Properly designed and implemented, voluntary biodiversity offsets can promote more and better conservation and help companies manage their environmental liabilities, risks and business opportunities. In addition to these business motivations for voluntary biodiversity offsets, there is law and policy on the subject in over 30 countries, ranging from Belgium to Brazil.
BBOP is coordinating a portfolio of biodiversity offset pilot projects around the world. With the guidance of the Advisory Committee, we are developing a toolkit of methodologies and guidelines for biodiversity offset design and implementation and providing advice on the design of pilot projects.
The thinking on biodiversity offsets is still evolving around the world, as companies, conservation groups and other stakeholders develop projects and experiment with different approaches. The circumstances in which biodiversity offsets may be used will vary considerably, too. BBOP’s response is to develop a set of voluntary principles for use where these will complement existing policy requirements, or where no such guidance exists. A consultation paper, including the draft principles (see box), is available for review and comment as an Information Document for COP-9 The contents of the methodology toolkit will also be available for consultation on a schedule posted on the BBOP website (2).
Draft
Principles on biodiversity offsets
1. No net loss: A biodiversity offset should achieve measurable conservation outcomes that can reasonably be expected to result in no net loss of biodiversity.
2. Adherence to the mitigation hierarchy: Biodiversity offsets are a commitment to compensate for significant residual adverse impacts on biodiversity identified after appropriate avoidance, minimization and rehabilitation measures have been taken according to the mitigation hierarchy. Offsets cannot provide a justification for proceeding with projects for which the residual impacts on biodiversity are unacceptable.
3. Landscape context: Biodiversity offsets should be designed and implemented in a landscape context to achieve the best measurable conservation outcomes, taking into account available information on the full range of biological, social and cultural values of biodiversity and supporting an ecosystem approach.
4. Stakeholder participation: In areas affected by the project and by the offset, the full and effective participation of stakeholders should be ensured in all phases of decision-making about biodiversity offsets, including their evaluation, selection, design and implementation. Special consideration should be given to the existing, recognised rights of indigenous and local communities.
5. Equity: Biodiversity offsets should be designed and implemented in an equitable manner, which means the sharing of the rights and responsibilities, risks and rewards associated with a project in a fair and balanced way among the stakeholders.
6. Long-term success: The design and implementation of biodiversity offsets should have as their objective sustained outcomes in terms of: a) the viability of key biodiversity components, b) the reliability and accountability of governance and financing, and c) social equity.
7. Transparency: The design and implementation of biodiversity offsets, and communication of their results to the public, should be undertaken in a transparent manner.
Through its principles, toolkit and pilot projects, BBOP hopes to contribute to the 2010 target, demonstrating positive conservation outcomes and collaboration between business, policy-makers and conservation experts to address one of our planet’s most pressing concerns: the loss of biodiversity.
Kerry ten Kate is Director of the
Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme (BBOP) at Forest Trends.
(1) The BBOP Advisory Committee currently comprises representatives from: Anglo American; Birdlife International; the Cambridge Centre for Conservation Policy; the City of Bainbridge Island; Conservation International; the Department of Conservation, New Zealand; the Department of Sustainability & Environment, Victoria, Australia; Ecoagriculture Partners; Environment Australia; Fauna and Flora International; Forest Trends; the International Institute of Environment and Development; Insight Investment; the International Finance Corporation; IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature); KfW Bankengruppe; Newmont Mining Corporation; Shell; the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Mexico; the Southern Rift Landowners Association, Kenya; Rio Tinto pp. 36-37; the Biodiversity Neutral Initiative; the Centre for Research-Information-Action for Development in Africa; the London Zoological Society; the Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development, France; the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning & the Environment, Netherlands p. 44; the National Ecology Institute, Mexico; the National Environmental Management Authority, Uganda; The Nature Conservancy; the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sherritt International Corporation pp. 38-39; the South African National Biodiversity Institute; Solid Energy New Zealand; the Tulalip Tribes; the United Nations Development Program (Footprint Neutral Initiative); the US Agency for International Development; the US Fish and Wildlife Service; Wageningen University, Netherlands; the Wildlife Conservation Society; and WWF.
(2) www.forest-trends.org/biodiversityoffsetprogram/consultation.php
