Biodiversity is being destroyed through many small incremental changes over time. This loss threatens our well-being and ability to adapt to climate change. To address this, the document proposes developing new mechanisms to neutralize negative impacts on biodiversity and turn losses into gains, such as through biodiversity offsets. Offsets involve compensating for biodiversity loss in one area by improving biodiversity elsewhere. This could create a market-based solution and new business opportunities, implementing the "polluter pays" principle. The proposal aims to incorporate offsets into legislation to balance development with conserving biodiversity in Finland.

1. Biodiversity Now!

2. Problem
• Biodiversity is destroyed in small steps, piece by piece;
– Land use change and fragmentation are globally the most
important drivers of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Any particular agent causes a negligible change but the sum
of all small changes is considerable over time
• In most cases agents need not to worry about their impacts
on biodiversity
The damager does not pay (unlike the polluter)!

3. ©Terhi Ryttäri

4. ©Markus Sirkka

5. Challenge
Risk
Loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services threaten
our wellbeing and ability to adapt to climate change
Challenge
How to stop the loss of biodiversity and related
ecosystem services?
Solution
We develop new efficient mechanisms to:
• Neutralize negative impacts on biodiversity
• Turn biodiversity loss to biodiversity improvement

6. Biodiversity
compensations
Loss of biodiversity is
compensated by improving
biodiversity elsewhere
• Balancing development
and biodiversity
Compensation principles
• Like for like or “better”
• Mitigation hierarchy
• Does not hamper existing
efforts
©Aarno Torvinen

7. Compensations via offsets
Market based solutions
• Demand for offset: agents causing biodiversity loss
• Supply of offsets: landowners and firms (new business
opportunities)
• Price of offsets: implements the spoiler pays –principle
Universal solution for all developed countries

8. What is new?
• Compensation via offsetting
– Modern instrument with price
incentives
– Invites firms and landowners to
stop biodiversity loss
– Allows citizens’ participation
• Creative combination - business,
science and policy
– Participatory and experimental
science work
– Improvement in biodiversity
policies
©Raili Malinen

9. Call for action
• Citizens and NGOs:
– Biodiversity offsetting is
also a contested concept,
– Open discourse needed;
first contacts made
• Firms, urban planners
– The use of compensation
offsets in business and
community planning
• Policy makers
– How to incorporate
compensations to the
Finnish legislation
©Terhi Ryttäri

10. Team & Skills
• Markku Ollikainen, prof. – economics
• Janne Kotiaho, prof. – ecology, ecosystem restoration
• Olli Ojala, senior researcher – nature conservation, policy
• Eeva Primmer, group leader – environmental governance
• Heli Saarikoski, senior researcher – environmental participation
• Tiina Jääskeläinen, researcher – corporate responsibility
• Jussi Kauppila, senior researcher – law
• Minna Pekkonen, researcher – ecology, nature conservation
Contact us!
Markku Ollikainen tel. 0294158065
Olli Ojala tel. 0295251476