International Finance & Biodiversity Offsets

Greg Radford, M.Sc. Managing Partner, ESSA Technologies Ltd

International Business Drivers

International Financial Institutions IFC and Equator Principles

Business Practices Voluntary corporate commitments to biodiversity are evolving Rio Tinto is a business leader with a “Net Positive Impact” policy commitment Other big players in mining are starting to follow Rio Tinto’s lead (e.g. some of the top

miners have biodiversity commitments in development that are not public yet).

Regulatory Existing and forthcoming national regulations. Examples include: Peru has published draft regulations for public comment that require No Net Loss to

biodiversity. Chile is drafting regulations too. Colombia already has similar regulations.

International Finance Drivers

The Biodiversity for Banks (B4B) program, is designed to help financial institutions overcome the challenges of incorporating risks associated with biodiversity and ecosystem services into their lending decisions.

http://www.equator-principles.com

http://bbop.forest-trends.org

Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services in Impact Assessment Special Symposium Inter-American Development Bank | Washington, DC, 7-8 February 2013

PS5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement

PS6: Biodiversity Conservation and

Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources

PS1: Assessment and Management of E&S

Risks and Impacts

PS2: Labor and Working Conditions

PS3: Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention

PS4: Community Health, Safety and Security

PS7: Indigenous Peoples PS8: Cultural Heritage

IFC PERFORMANCE STANDARDS OVERVIEW WWW.IFC.ORG

Objectives include: protection and conservation of biodiversity maintain benefits from ecosystem services

Offset requirements are established through the ESIA process Mitigation hierarchy includes biodiversity offsets Biodiversity offsets should achieve measureable conservation outcomes Offset must adhere to “like-for-like or better” principle “No net loss” requirement for natural habitats “Net positive gain” requirement in Critical Habitats

PS6: BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF LIVING NATURAL RESOURCES

Mitigation Hierarchy Gone Wrong…