Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of biodiversity offsetting frameworks.

We are introducing mandatory biodiversity net gain for most new development from November 2023. The policy aims to leave biodiversity in a measurably better state than before the development has commenced. In order for developers to calculate a measurable uplift in biodiversity value, they will need to use the biodiversity metric calculation tool. The tool measures losses and gains in biodiversity by generating 'biodiversity units'. Developments can see whether they will achieve 10% net gain by comparing the baseline biodiversity units to the post-development units.

A metric allows the biodiversity impact of a development to be quantified so that the offset requirement, and the value of the compensatory action, can be clearly defined. The original policy intention in 2012 has moved from offsetting losses in biodiversity, towards delivering measurable gains in biodiversity. This was the key driver towards a standardised single metric which needed to be simple but based on sound ecological principles. Offsetting is only considered after the mitigation hierarchy is followed and does not replace existing policies or protections. Our recently published Nature Market Framework sets out our vision to hardwire integrity and principles into the market framework to build trust and confidence so markets can grow at pace in line with our increased environmental ambition.