NSW environmental offsets scheme risks ‘trading away’ threatened species ‘for cash’, inquiry finds

Inquiry says it is too easy for developers to pay cash to biodiversity offsets fund with no guarantee offsets will ever be found

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A New South Wales government environmental offsets scheme allows too much flexibility for threatened species to be traded away for cash" and should be reformed to ensure offsetting is genuinely used as a last resort only", a parliamentary inquiry has found.

Triggered after reporting by Guardian Australia, the inquiry found multiple problems with the scheme, including serious flaws in its design and operation that raise fundamental questions about whether it can achieve the stated goal of no net loss' of biodiversity".

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