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Offsetting impacts of development on biodiversity and ecosystem services

Version 2 2024-06-05, 09:10
Version 1 2020-07-15, 09:46
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-05, 09:10 authored by LJ Sonter, A Gordon, Carla ArchibaldCarla Archibald, JS Simmonds, M Ward, JP Metzger, JR Rhodes, M Maron
Offsetting—trading losses in one place for commensurate gains in another—is a tool used to mitigate environmental impacts of development. Biodiversity and carbon are the most widely used targets of offsets; however, other ecosystem services are increasingly traded, introducing new risks to the environment and people. Here, we provide guidance on how to “trade with minimal trade-offs”— i.e. how to offset impacts on biodiversity without negatively affecting ecosystem services and vice versa. We briefly survey the literature on offsetting biodiversity, carbon and other ecosystem services, revealing that each subfield addresses unique issues (often overlooking those raised by others) and rarely assesses potential trade-offs. We discuss key differences between offsets that trade biodiversity and those that trade ecosystem services, conceptualise links between these different targets in an offsetting context and describe three broad approaches to manage potential trade-offs. We conclude by proposing a research agenda to strengthen the outcomes of offsetting policies that are emerging internationally.

Funding

Australian Postgraduate Award | Funder: University of Queensland

History

Journal

Ambio

Volume

49

Pagination

892-902

Location

Dordrecht, The Netherlands

ISSN

0044-7447

eISSN

1654-7209

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article, C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Issue

4

Publisher

Springer