Corporate concern for biodiversity conservation is increasing as companies seek to reduce, or even eliminate, their net environmental impacts. Several corporations in the mining and utilities sectors have adopted ambitious but feasible goals to have a ‘net zero’ or a ‘net positive’ impact upon biodiversity wherever they operate. However, it is seldom possible to eliminate negative impacts to biodiversity while still proceeding with development activities, no matter how rigorous the environmental management program, or how extensive the site restoration efforts. So how can companies achieve no net impact?

One answer is voluntary biodiversity offsets. Leaders in biodiversity management are beginning to use offsets to mitigate their unavoidable adverse impacts. With recent improvements in offsetting methodologies, particularly for the development of carbon trading markets, offsets are becoming a viable and effective tool in the corporate environmental management toolbox.

Services: Cortex collaborated with staff at the Biodiversity Neutral Initiative (BNI) in a project designed to better understand the biodiversity conservation issues faced by Canadian and International companies and organizations and to promote the concept of biodiversity offsets.

Outcomes: The project produced:

• a literature review ( 213 Kb) of biodiversity offsets with special emphasis on their status in Canada
   
• research into the specific biodiversity impacts and conservation issues facing Canadian companies and organizations 
   
• a briefing paper ( 93 Kb) on biodiversity offsets 
   
• a list of companies and organizations in Canada with potential interest in either promoting the concept of biodiversity offsets through financial support of BNI, or in utilizing biodiversity offsets as part of their sustainability program