One year on

We launched The Green Offset one year ago offering an online service pairing those looking for areas to site natural capital schemes with parties who have land available. There has been more than 36,000 acres of land listed across the UK.

The platform was created to help develop the market for natural capital schemes which are being driven by the Environment Act which was passed in November 2021. The Green Offset website enables ‘Offset Seekers’ –developers, companies or individuals looking for land for environmental requirements - to search for suitable sites.

Landowners, referred to as ‘Offset Providers’, can easily and freely register their land on the website, showing that they are potentially open to discussion and negotiation around siting of environmental schemes on their land. While the preference will be to deliver this within the development site, developers may need to deliver this off-site if this cannot be achieved, in the local area through biodiversity offsetting.

Developers will not only be required to avoid a loss in biodiversity but deliver a 10 per cent biodiversity net gain as part of any planning consent. Several local authorities have already implemented net gain requirements and some utilities companies are already voluntarily providing it as part of their projects as they start to recognise the long term benefit it will have on the environment and the communities we live in.

The policy is still in very early days and this legislation will not be mandatory until November 2023. Landowners, developers, and local authorities are still seeking clarification on what it involves and how it will affect planning, landowners, and businesses in the future. It will have a huge impact on developers who will need to demonstrate how biodiversity net gain will be achieved in relation to all developments.

It is a simple, free, and useful tool allowing people to identify offsetting opportunities and has already attracted thousands of visitors. The website interlinks with the agricultural transition which is moving away from the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) providing opportunities for landowners to look at alternative ways to support their long-term future which could potentially be an opportunity for farm diversification and increased income generation.

The platform will continue to be developed and updated as policies and working practices change which puts us in a strong position to assist in developing offsetting requirements. We are able to signpost ecologists, planners, surveyors and accountants and support landowners to work through the challenges that they are being faced with.

Fisher German is calling on even more landowners and Seekers to visit the website to find out more about how the platform can assist in these emerging natural capital markets.

For further information about the service, visit www.greenoffset.co.uk