“There’s no such thing as a unit of biodiversity”::Contesting value and biodiversity offsetting in England

Crawford, Guy (2019) “There’s no such thing as a unit of biodiversity”::Contesting value and biodiversity offsetting in England. In: Locating Value. Routledge, London. ISBN 978-1-138-85223-5

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Abstract

In an era defined by neo-liberalism, environmental policy that results in the commodification of aspects of the nonhuman world has become increasingly commonplace. This raises important questions regarding how value is attributed to such entities. In recent years, policies that aim to integrate environmental conservation activities into the flow of capital have become more established. In England, the UK government is currently piloting a policy of biodiversity offsetting at six sites. Biodiversity offsetting has been framed as a means of reconciling development and conservation goals. It is argued that ecologically damaging development can be effectively mitigated by establishing a financial incentive for conservation activities elsewhere. Additional conservation activities generate credits that can be bought by developers, resulting in ‘no net loss’ of biodiversity. With an approach grounded in cultural political economy, this chapter explores competing discourses surrounding the policy and examines varying positions held by stakeholders. Each discourse articulates a particular understanding of socioecological relations that underpin perspectives on how the value of nature should be conceptualised. The chapter highlights how the emergence of new forms of environmental policy involves a semiotic and political struggle between stakeholders to assert a particular vision and conceptualisation of socioecological relations.

Item Type:	Book Section
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	16 Sep 2021 08:55
Last Modified:	21 Apr 2023 01:47
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/81409
DOI:	10.4324/9781315723686-5

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