Towards an Integrated Environmental Compensation Scheme in Spain: Linking Biodiversity and Carbon Offsets

Álvaro Enríquez- de-Salamanca, Rosa M. Martín-Aranda (rmartin@ccia.uned.es) and Ruben Diaz-Sierra (sierra@dfmf.uned.es)
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Álvaro Enríquez- de-Salamanca: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), DRABA Ingeniería y Consultoría Medioambiental, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, Spain
Rosa M. Martín-Aranda: #x2020;Departamento de Quimica Inorgánica y Químca Técnica, Facultad de Ciencas, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain
Ruben Diaz-Sierra: #x2021;Departamento de Física Matemática y de Fluidos, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain

Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), 2017, vol. 19, issue 02, 1-25

Abstract: Biodiversity offsets and carbon markets are both environmental compensation schemes, which have much in common despite their different origins and development. They need active markets to succeed with actual offer and demand, which are currently practically non-existent in Spain. The inclusion of land use and forestry activities in greenhouse gas accounting could encourage carbon sinks, stimulating the development of carbon markets. Conservation banking was incorporated into Spanish legislation in the 2013 Environmental Assessment Act, as a tool for biodiversity offsets, but the current situation is hindering its development. Combining carbon and biodiversity offsets in a global compensation scheme would provide great opportunities: ecologically, creating and protecting habitats and species; socially, creating employment and deriving financial resources to rural areas; climatically, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration levels; and politically, contributing to the compliance of GHG emission targets. Conservation banking is an appropriate candidate for this integration in Spain, as long as it is regulated flexibly, and different bank models are allowed that are able to integrate forest and agriculture production, conservation and compensation.

Keywords: Mitigation banking; carbon markets; climate change; biodiversity offsets; carbon offsets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1142/S1464333217500065

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