Environmental offsets in Colombia: Policy, practice and conflict

Abstract

Environmental offsets aim to find a balance between economic growth and biodiversity conservation by compensating for the adverse environmental impacts of development. In Colombia, environmental offsets are being put forward as the engine for a new sustainable development model. Colombia is considered a pioneer in environmental policy in Latin America, has various environmental compensation instruments and is currently taking a lead in the region in biodiversity offsetting. This research examines environmental offsetting in policy and practice in Colombia, tracing the evolution of offsetting policy since the 1970s and the drivers behind the latest biodiversity offset regulations. Crossing the landscapes of Colombia, from rural fincas in the Andes and the valley of the Magdalena Medio, to the offices of industry, government and NGOs, this thesis examines the subject of offsetting and the meanings of biodiversity from different angles, revealing the importance of biodiversity as a national asset, a symbol of identity and inseparable from cultural diversity. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, policy analysis and a case study of the hydroelectric dam Hidrosogamoso and forest offsets implemented in Parque Nacional Natural Serranía de los Yariguíes, this research offers empirical evidence of the successes, multidimensional challenges, contradictory policies and contested practices associated with offsets. Drawing on political ecology and peace and conflict studies, centred on the themes of biodiversity and conflict, the research explores the conflicts that arise as a result of direct, systemic, and cultural violence towards people and nature, revealing parallels between a socio-ecological conflict at the impact site and the offset site. It draws attention to the threats facing human rights and environmental defenders amid historical patterns of colonisation and extractivism, land use conflicts and current post-conflict peacebuilding challenges. This study examines the discursive constructions of biodiversity and highlights the social impacts of offset projects implemented in a protected area, as well as the practical and ethical challenges of attempting to offset environmental harm, challenging win-win and no net loss narratives promoted under green growth agendas. It argues that by creating a reliance on extractive development and transnational capital to carry out conservation, offsets are a double-edged sword that risk becoming a new tool of (neo)extractivism that is ultimately environmentally and socially unsustainable.