Can Biodiversity Net Gain apply to a project, product, company, portfolio, area or country?
Biodiversity Net Gain (or a similar approach such as No Net Loss) can be set as a goal at several different levels.
The most common approach is to consider designing a specific project (such as a new mine, oil and gas pipeline, windfarm, dam, highway or housing development) to achieve Biodiversity Net Gain. (For more info, click here.)
Companies are also applying the goal of Biodiversity Net Gain to other scopes of activity, for instance trying to ensure BNG in the design, manufacturing, use and disposal of a particular product. For more information on BNG through the value chain, click here.
Or seeking to achieve BNG across the company – eg the commitment to ‘net positive impact (NPI) across Anglo American through implementing the mitigation hierarchy and investment in biodiversity stewardship’ – Highways England’s commitment to ‘No Net Loss to biodiversity by 2020 and Net Gain by 2040’. For more information on BNG at the corporate level, click here.
Some investors, such as CDC, are striving to move towards Biodiversity Net Gain portfolios. For more information on BNG through investment and engagement, click here.
Biodiversity Net Gain (or No Net Loss or a similar target) can also be the policy goal (and sometimes legal requirement for developers) by countries. Such policy can be set at the national, state or local jurisdictional levels. For more information on BNG through government policy, click here.