A Case for Biodiversity Offsets in India

from Biodiversity Risk to Competitive Advantage

By Divya Narain

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As the Indian economy is moving up the growth curve, the country’s biodiversity is taking a beating. Even though legislation is in place to regulate and compensate for diversion of forests for non-forest uses, diversion and the resultant biodiversity loss continue unabated. The regulatory compensation regime has fallen woefully short of truly offsetting the biodiversity impact of economic development. The time is ripe for high-biodiversity-footprint businesses operating in India to explore the option of voluntary biodiversity offsets not only to manage reputational and financial risks by adequately compensating for their biodiversity impact but also to gain a competitive edge in the process.