Our thinking

Net gain for nature

16 February, 2024

Some groundbreaking new environmental legislation came into force in the UK this week: Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). The new law mandates that new building projects must enhance nature, by delivering at least a 10% net improvement in biodiversity. This means that developers must both avoid damaging nature as far as possible during their development, as well as create or improve habitats, either in the same area or elsewhere.

While at its core the new legislation sounds like a huge win for nature, this new system is not without its pitfalls. As with biodiversity credits, there are concerns around long term monitoring of these projects, with BNG projects risking becoming token gestures rather than genuine conservation efforts. Moreover, creation and improvement of habitats is complex and delicate, as these are highly interconnected, diverse and unique systems. The long-term impacts of destroying part of a habitat are hard to quantify and simply creating new habitat or improving biodiversity elsewhere does not necessarily make up for the lost habitat. There are also concerns around the potential for developers to destroy biodiversity hotspots and create or improve less ecologically valuable sites in compensation.

All of which means the system must be carefully regulated and monitored, to ensure the relative value of conservation actions are assessed, alongside systematic long-term monitoring of biodiversity outcomes. But it’s important to hold on to the fact that if the legislation can be effectively implemented it could provide a lifeline for nature in the UK and inspire similar legislation across the world, embedding consideration of nature into the fabric of businesses.

So, while it’s not perfect, we do think Biodiversity Net Gain is a crucial step towards balancing economic progress with ecological integrity, and reminds us that ambitious solutions are in reach. We will be keeping a close eye on how it plays out.

By Lucy Bell