Biodiversity Offsetting in Finland: Analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, and Development Opportunities

Abstract

Voluntary biodiversity offsetting, where biodiversity losses are compensated by producing commensurate gains, was recently introduced to the Finnish Nature Conservation Act. Offsetting is guided by internationally set criteria, yet offset planning, execution and monitoring face well-known challenges that can prevent them from achieving no net loss of biodiversity. Here, we assess the strengths and weaknesses of the new Finnish biodiversity offsetting policy against these challenges.

The new policy is rather advanced, outlining an exact way to calculate biodiversity losses and gains and setting clear rules for what actions can be called biodiversity offsetting. The policy includes several central criteria, such as the additionality and in-perpetuity of offsets and accounting for time-lags and uncertainty in future gains. All implemented offsets are also listed in an open biodiversity offset register.

The policies’ weaknesses include the illogical definition of avoided loss offsetting, which diverts from the international definition and likely prevents its use. Adherence to mitigation hierarchy or confirming offsets deliver biodiversity gains are not required, reducing the scheme’s incentive towards avoidance. Offsetting is also entirely voluntary, hampering its uptake. Future policy updates should make offsetting mandatory and correct the current weaknesses. Equally crucial is not to weaken the successfully implemented policy elements.