Biodiversity loss is one of the major environmental challenges facing humankind today. Despite the invaluable benefits provided by biodiversity and associated ecosystems, current and projected trends show continued decline. It is widely acknowledged that concerted policy efforts will be needed to reverse these trends. The aim of this volume is to provide policy makers and practitioners with good practice insights on how to effectively design and implement one particular instrument that has recently been gaining traction from governments and business alike, namely biodiversity offsets. Typically undertaken as the last step in the mitigation hierarchy (i.e. avoid, minimise and then offset loss), successful biodiversity offset programmes are those that are environmentally effective, economically efficient and distributionally equitable.

Current and projected trends in global biodiversity suggest further decline under business-as-usual scenarios. It is widely acknowledged that renewed efforts are needed to halt and reverse this trend. Governments must seek to reinforce and scale up instruments for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, and to make existing instruments more environmentally and cost effective. One instrument that has recently been receiving increasing attention from policy makers and business alike is biodiversity offsets.

Biodiversity offsets are economic instruments used to allow for some continued economic development whilst simultaneously delivering biodiversity objectives, such as no net loss or net gain. This chapter discusses the role of biodiversity offsets in the broader policy framework for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, summarises their scale and scope, and highlights some important environmental and social safeguards relevant to their use. Drawing on insights from more than 40 case studies of biodiversity offset programmes worldwide, the chapter concludes with good practice insights for their effective design and implementation.