La compensación de impactos ambientales mediante adquisición de créditos de conservación: ¿una nueva fórmula de prevención o un mecanismo de flexibilización del régimen de evaluación ambiental?

Abstract

The introduction by the new Act of Enviromental Assessment of the possibility to resort to the acquisition of credits generated in banks for the nature conservation as a compensatory method of enviromental impacts of projects with irreversible adverse effects over enviroment sets out many legal issues of interest and a sort of legal uncertainty which derives exactly from the inadequate legal treatment given to this figure so far. In this work we want to deal with some of the features of this market instrument and its integration within the system of enviromental assessment, valuing its potential virtues for economic development but also thinking about the risks that can bring to the enviroment the incorrect implementation of the measure. Therefore, we highlight the importance of reinterpretating the general principles of enviromental law from the «No net loss» perspective, or no loss of net biodiversity and the leading role that the principle of proportionality has to get in the delimitation of the practical application of the system and in the monitoring of the administrative activity.

Keywords

• banks for the nature conservation
• compensatory measures for enviromental impact
• credits of the conservation
• enviromental assessment
• market instruments