BOOST for biodiversity offsets
There is unequivocal scientific consensus about the ongoing environmental crisis and a strong global political ambition to halt biodiversity loss. Still, we are systematically failing with national-level implementation: globally none of the Aichi biodiversity targets designed to stop biodiversity loss by 2020 were met. In BOOST – Biodiversity offsetting as an operational tool for a just sustainability transition towards no net loss of ecosystems and biodiversity – we facilitate the mainstreaming and enabling of just transition towards adoption of biodiversity offsets in Finland and globally. In biodiversity offsetting (ecological compensation), biodiversity losses due to ecologically harmful human activity are compensated by producing biodiversity gains elsewhere with concrete actions in nature. More specifically, our tasks include amongst other things developing a national offset register, biodiversity accounting, and a working comprehensive offsetting system.
The three impact objectives of the project are:
enhancing national and international understanding regarding ecological compensations;
development of the ecological compensation system;
mainstreaming of ecological compensation.
The overarching goal of the BOOST consortium is to facilitate a just sustainability transition towards no net loss (NNL) of ecosystems and biodiversity. BOOST will provide scientifically competent, economically feasible and socially acceptable means for adopting credible offset policies in Finland, covering design, implementation, accounting, monitoring, social justice and the legal framework.
