Ahead of the autumn budget, fears are growing among environmental and business groups that the Government could proceed with proposals to remove obligations to protect wildlife and make up for loss of nature on small and medium sized development sites. 

Over the summer Defra consulted on exemption proposals which could remove Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) from the majority of developments. The proposed exemptions not only threaten wildlife and greenspaces, but will also undermine this newly flourishing financial market. Recent research has unearthed the true cost to the economy of this damaging proposal. 

A study from eftec, commissioned by The Wildlife Trusts, has found that with fewer exemptions, an improved BNG market would support a total of £250 million in economic activity annually and sustain over 2,450 full-time jobs a year. These economic benefits, including new jobs, would provide a particular boost to rural areas.  

But now, as the budget approaches and the Government consultation response expected, concerns are deepening that Ministers may bend to Treasury pressure and greenlight the damaging consultation proposals. If true, the move would meet overwhelming opposition from the public, business and experts. 

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says: 
“As the budget looms and the Government seeks out opportunities to boost our economy, undermining plans to expand the private sector’s role in contributing to nature’s recovery would be absurd. Ministers must drop the consultation proposals to avoid a huge economic and environmental misstep. 

“It beggars belief that the Government would even be considering such a move, putting jobs and investment at risk in the growing nature recovery sector, when study after study has proven that nature underpins our economy’s ability to function and be resilient to future shocks.” 

In January of this year, the Government made solemn promises about how committed they were to BNG, referring to it as critical to delivering nature restoration alongside development. Just a few months on, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill - widely recognised to be an imminent disaster for nature – coupled with a U-turn on the promises made on BNG, risks devastation for wildlife. 

The Wildlife Trusts, alongside business leaders, argue that ploughing ahead with development exemptions would damage both wildlife and confidence in this emerging market which has already delivered more than 100 sites for nature in the UK.  Overseas, in the USA, France and other countries, biodiversity offset requirements have been part of a thriving nature economy for decades, proving that policies like BNG can underpin national prosperity when properly supported by governments. 

Craig Bennett continues: 
“Time and again, Ministers love to talk about the need to attract private finance for nature’s recovery, but the policy uncertainty and flip-flopping we have seen with BNG represents a huge barrier to private sector investment in nature.  

“If the Government were to drop the requirement for BNG on smaller sites, then they would torpedo business confidence in the fledgling nature markets and wave goodbye to any hope of securing private sector investment in future, meaning the taxpayer will have to pick up the slack if the UK is going to deliver on its legally binding domestic and international nature targets.  

“Rachel Reeves seems stuck in a 1970s mindset, that continues to pit nature against growth at the expense of both. This is a false choice that threatens nature while also putting new jobs and millions in investment at risk too.”   

Earlier this year over 13,500 Wildlife Trust supporters, together with leading businesses, urged the Government not to exempt small sites from BNG requirements as fears grew that nature could be squeezed into smaller and smaller places as a result.  

Earlier research from eftec, commissioned by Wildlife and Countryside Link and the Lifescape Project, revealed that if developments up to and including 1hectare (ha) are exempted from the BNG requirement, 24,220 ha (an area equivalent to the size of nearly 35,000 football pitches) of extra developed land will not be required to deliver any mitigation for damage done to wildlife and habitats. This would also represent a loss of funding for nature’s recovery equivalent to around £250m per year.  

Just this weekend, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) also warned that entire exemptions from BNG for small sites would undermine the policy, adding to the growing evidence against the proposal.