Biodiversity, offset planning and natural capital are moving to the foreground

Biodiversity, offset planning and natural capital are quickly becoming core considerations for major projects, land use, infrastructure, energy and investment.

In a recent article published by The Fifth Estate, ESG&I founder Geoff Gourley explores why biodiversity can no longer be treated as a late-stage approvals issue.

From compliance footnote to commercial risk

For years, biodiversity sat at the back of the project planning queue — a permitting hurdle to be cleared late in the process, often after design, capital allocation and stakeholder commitments were already locked in. That sequencing is breaking down.

It is now a commercial, planning and delivery risk — and an opportunity for those who engage early.

What is changing

Three forces are converging on Australian project proponents:

• Regulatory tightening. The Nature Positive reform agenda, state-level biodiversity offset schemes and the rise of TNFD-aligned disclosure are shifting nature from optional to expected.
• Capital scrutiny. Lenders and institutional investors are asking harder questions about nature-related risk, supply chain dependencies and offset credibility.
• Community expectations. Traditional Owners, local communities and ENGOs are increasingly engaged early — and projects without a credible biodiversity story are being delayed, repriced or cancelled.

Read the full article

Read Geoff's full piece on The Fifth Estate: A new wave of biodiversity assessment, offset planning and natural capital is moving to the foreground.

What boards should do now

• Move biodiversity assessment into the earliest feasibility and site-selection stages, not the approvals tail.
• Treat offset strategy as a board-level capital and reputational decision, not a compliance line item.
• Build internal fluency on TNFD, Nature Positive and state offset schemes — your CFO should be able to explain nature risk like climate risk.
• Engage Traditional Owners and communities before project parameters are fixed.

Interested to hear how others are seeing biodiversity and natural capital show up in project planning — get in touch with the ESG&I team.