Next steps for biodiversity net gain in England

It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to assess early experience of implementation, including the requirements now applying to nationally significant infrastructure projects. Drawing on the first formal evaluation of the framework, delegates will consider evidence of environmental outcomes, the reliability of biodiversity assessments and proposed changes to the statutory metric. The agenda will also examine habitat creation and ecological connectivity associated with major infrastructure, alongside the responsibilities of developers, landowners and planning authorities.

Further discussion will consider the operation of biodiversity markets, including the effects of exemptions on demand for off-site units, conditions for private investment and arrangements for maintaining habitats over the statutory 30-year period. Delegates will also assess the contribution of biodiversity net gain to local nature recovery priorities, alongside emerging research and practical development informing potential future marine net gain requirements.