England has last month launched a biodiversity credit scheme to prevent the natural landscape from being damaged by new development projects. The Biodiversity net gain (BNG) makes sure that habitats for wildlife are left in a measurably better state than they were before the development, and it is mandatory under Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as inserted by Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 2021).
Under BNG, all the new development projects, including buildings, must achieve a 10% net gain in biodiversity or habitat. If a forest area is destroyed because of the construction of road, another one needs to built—either on site or off site.
It is an approach used to improve a site's biodiversity value. Once applied, a completed site will have a positive ecological impact, delivering improvements through habitat creation or enhancement after avoiding or mitigating harm.
The BNG rules will affect the developers of major as well as small infrastructure projects from April 2, 2024, and developers of nationally significant infrastructure projects from late November 2025. It will also have an effect on land managers wanting to sell in the BNG market and the local planning authority.
The BNG policy aims to tackle the ongoing twin policy challenges of preventing further biodiversity declines while enabling continued infrastructure expansion.
Not That Easy
To get planning permission, proposed new developments will need to assess the biodiversity value of the site before construction, using a metric that accounts for the size, conservation value and condition of different habitats at the site. Developers also have to demonstrate that their actions will lead to overall biodiversity value rising by at least 10% after the project is completed.
The biggest problem that comes forth is the policy’s proposed monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. There is an urgent need to fix these gaps and ensure local authorities can enforce the rules. Otherwise the policy will end up being “net gain” in name, but not in nature.
“A key challenge in biodiversity net gain is the effectiveness with which the regulations can be implemented. If done well, it could be a pivotal tool for reversing biodiversity loss in England. Yet, done badly, it could hasten the nature’s decline. In particular, it is essential that plans for biodiversity net gain are scrutinised by independent officials, that implementation is monitored effectively, and that learnings (for example, what works in terms of long-term restoration in different areas) can be fed back into policy design in an agile way,” Tom Oliver, Professor of Applied Ecology at the University of Reading told CNBCTV18.
The existing environmental protections in England, for example concerning the quality of freshwater rivers and lakes, have suffered from failures in regulation, monitoring and enforcement, he said adding that; “Therefore, it is critical that lessons are learnt for the implementation of ambitious new schemes like BNG”
Private Participation
According to a report of Campaign for Nature, a global campaign to safeguard at least 30% of the world's lands and oceans by 2030, funding for nature from the private sector is necessary and can come in various forms but this funding must be driven by government policy including increased taxes on companies that destroy nature.
A study in the Society for Conserving Biology mentions that the governance shortfalls and scarce resources may undermine effectiveness and desired outcomes of the BNG policy.
Biodiversity compensation policies have emerged around the world to address the ecological harms of infrastructure expansion, but historically compliance is weak. The results of the study highlight considerable risks to the policy that could undermine its effectiveness. One of the most important findings was that just over one-quarter of the biodiversity units delivered through the policy fell within a critical governance gap, putting developments at substantial risk of noncompliance and non-delivery.
Half the biodiversity units delivered mature in about 5 years, which leaves them unlikely to be enforced under the current planning system. Specific infrastructure types generate large biodiversity unit surpluses with limited ecological justification.
A new research from national green space management charity, the Land Trust, in partnership with the Land, Planning and Development Federation (LPDF) and the Home Builders Federation (HBF) has found that despite the challenges it presents, 95% of respondents support the launch of BNG regulations, with only 5% in opposition.
However, just 7% of land promoters and developers believe the fulfilment of mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements are “comfortably achievable”. Close to half (45%) felt the principles are “somewhat achievable”, and 43% said fulfilment would be “very challenging”.
Other challenges which are high on the agenda for land promoters and developers were the availability of land to deliver offsite BNG (52%), the cost to the developer (48%), the availability of appropriate management bodies to deliver BNG (43%), the availability of third-party credits (40%), delivering BNG alongside other legal requirements (36%), and the 30 years’ delivery of BNG (31%).
The responsibility for compliance with the new system ensuring BNG has been placed squarely on the shoulders of local authorities. This is bound to add to the funding pressures. Developers may have to anticipate further delays while the system adjusts. Industry wide training will be time-consuming and costly but will be vital to minimise the risk of miscommunication that can lead to poor decision-making and unnecessary planning appeals. This could particularly affect the small developers as they may have to incur unnecessary costs.
But despite the flaws and loopholes, it is a positive step towards conserving the biodiversity. The stakeholders should work together to deliver the results.
(Edited by : C H Unnikrishnan)
First Published: Mar 21, 2024 12:08 PM IST
Check out our in-depth Market Coverage, Business News & get real-time Stock Market Updates on CNBC-TV18. Also, Watch our channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar Live on-the-go!
Supreme Court says it may consider interim bail for Arvind Kejriwal due to ongoing Lok Sabha polls
May 3, 2024 4:57 PM
10% discount on fare on Mumbai Metro lines 2 and 7A on May 20
May 3, 2024 2:40 PM