The concept of ecological compensation (EC) assumes that ecological values are substitutable across spatial units. EC is increasingly recognised in Sweden as a novel policy instrument for land-use planning, however, it suffers from inconsistency in application and outcome. For example, there are no legal provisions to require EC for urban development or new roads and railways. This study shows that there are many context dependent variables affecting the performance of EC in Sweden, which can partly be explained by authorities’ lacking experience in administrating these questions, and by the absence of a standardised structure for handling the full EC process. These shortcomings together with an inadequate legislation may cause EC to result in “license-to-trash” and fails to guarantee no net loss of ecological values. The performance of EC in Sweden was assessed through two case studies: the Sigtuna trading estate and the Aitik mine expansions. Implementation procedures and compensation designs were investigated by analysis of written documents and semi-structured interviews. The data was structured in an analytical framework, displaying similarities and context dependent disparities. The results suggest that, for the Aitik-case, licence-to-trash is a risk if compensation schemes are reviewed by the regulatory authorities during the processing of the application. The Sigtuna case suggests, opposed to earlier findings, that the Plan and Building Act can be utilised for EC if the compensation measures are regulated in a development agreement between the municipality and the landowner/developer. Both cases suggest that additionality can be met by appropriate institutional design, whereas no net loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services hardly can be achieved within the existing Swedish legal framework. To improve the performance of EC, structures for handling the process from quantification of social and ecological values, to monitoring of compensation outcomes must be implemented in all development projects affecting nature.

The purpose of this study was to examine how different county boards in Sweden work with ecological compensation in case of intrusion in wetland habitats. The study also aimed to see if their work differ from each other or if they use similar processing routines. The study was performed by using a questionnaire which was sent out to three county boards in Sweden (Västerbotten, Gävleborg and Skåne). The questionnaire contained questions about wetland presence and exploitation of wetlands in the county, if/ how the county boards applied ecological compensation in case of intrusion in wetland habitats and lastly the county board’s own perception of ecological compensation as a tool. The results showed that the use of ecological compensation was very limited, Skåne was the only one that has demanded ecological compensation in matters regarding intrusion in wetland habitats. This was due to several factors, including an overall low interest from businesses to exploit wetlands, the high value of wetlands which often led to rejections of the applications and also some difficulty to demand ecological compensation with the support by the law that was being used. However, all three county boards thought of ecological compensation as a good tool to use at intrusion in wetland habitats. In the future we might see a better use of ecological compensation due to the new legislative changes that are being discussed today and that would make it easier to demand compensation.

At a time when biodiversity is declining, there needs to be a shift in how development projects take responsibility for lost natural values. Such a change is provided by biodiversity offsetting which give project owners an opportunity to compensate for declines in natural quality. However, offsetting for biodiversity costs money and therefore a clear business case is needed. Like all types of Corporate Sustainable Responsibility (CSR) work the expected competitive advantages are dependent on the stakeholders’ knowledge of the CSR measures. The aim of this study was therefore to explain how ecological compensation is communicated to stakeholders and why communication is carried out from the perspective of the project owner in a Swedish context. Through interviews and building on theories of CSR, stakeholders, and communication, the results from the five cases herein shows that communication is regarded as very important to most biodiversity offsetting projects. How, when and to whom the communication was directed seemed to depend on the goal which was most important to the project owner. Four goals highlighted in the results were: To gain a social licence to operate; gain new knowledge and to further the indirect increase in natural values inherent in all biodiversity offsetting projects. Also, claiming legal permits for development was a goal for most of the responding organizations. The goals influenced which stakeholders became the most important to communicate with, and different communication strategies were used for the different stakeholders. Some stakeholders could clearly be grouped into general categories, e.g. legal authorities and non-governmental organizations, but this study concluded that the heterogenous character of many of the stakeholders mentioned by the participating organizations made it difficult to categorize these into specific groups.

I takt med att befolkningen i Stockholmsregionen ökar så ökar även exploateringstrycket på grönytorna i regionen. Ekologisk kompensation har pekats ut som ett verktyg som kan användas för att minska förlusten av biologisk mångfald och ekosystemtjänster i samband med att grönområden exploateras. Syftet med detta arbete har varit att studera hur kommunerna i Stockholmsregionen arbetar med ekologisk kompensation samt vilka möjligheter det finns för att utföra kompensationsåtgärder på golfbanor. Utöver det så har även golfbanornas roll i ett eventuellt system med kompensationspool utforskats. Arbetet har främst bestått av en enkät- och intervjustudie som har kompletterats med en litteraturstudie. Sex stycken kommuner svarade på den utskickade enkäten och ytterligare fyra kommuner deltog i varsin intervju. Två stycken golfklubbar har även deltagit och besvarat ett antal frågor. Baserat på resultaten så drar författarna slutsatsen att golfbanor kan, under rätt förutsättningar, vara recipienter för en rad olika åtgärder för ekologisk kompensation. Exempel på åtgärder som utförts på golfbanor för att bland annat bidra till den biologiska mångfalden har identifierats under arbetet, som exempelvis anläggning av dammar för lekande groddjur. Inga säkra slutsatser kan dras om huruvida golfbanor kan delta i kompensationspooler då det ännu är oklart hur ett sådant system skulle se ut i Sverige. / The population growth in the Stockholm region presents challenges for planners, such as increased exploitation pressure on green spaces in the region. Ecological compensation has been identified as a measure to mitigate damages and minimize net loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban areas. The purpose of this report has been to study to what extent municipalities in the Stockholm region incorporate ecological compensatory actions as well as to unravel any potential in utilizing golf courses as recipients when ecological compensations are to be done. Additionally, the possibilities for golf courses to enroll in compensation pools has been examined. Primary method for this report has been interviews and questionnaires, and has been complemented with a literature study. Six municipalities answered the questionnaire and four municipalities respectively two golf clubs participated in interviews. Based on the results it is concluded that golf courses could be the recipient of various projects of ecological compensation under certain conditions. Such compensatory actions are then dependent on local circumstances. Cases where golf courses are subjects for strategic ecological improvements are described, e.g. construction of ponds that support local amphibian fauna. No conclusions could be drawn regarding whether golf courses could participate in compensation pools due to legal uncertainties on how such a system could be established in Sweden.

Förlust av biologisk mångfald och tillhörande ekosystemtjänster klassas idag som en av de allvarligaste globala miljöutmaningarna mänskligheten står inför. Till följd av den globala urbaniseringen ökar efterfrågan på fastigheter, där städer växer till sig genom förtätning och utglesning. Utfallet blir en latent samhällsekonomisk kostnad i form av förlust av bostadsnära natur och urbana ekosystemtjänster. Ekologisk kompensation är ett framträdande koncept som tillämpas för att motverka förlust av biologisk mångfald. I denna studie har möjligheterna med ekologisk kompensation i samband med fastighetsutveckling i Sverige analyserats. Resultaten visar att incitament för frivilliga investeringar i ekologisk kompensation kan komma att öka i samband med förändringarna av EU:s taxonomiförordning och adopteringen av miljöcertifieringar. Vidare påvisas sambandet mellan ökade bostadsvärden och ekosystemtjänster. De största utmaningarna som stagnerar normalisering av ekologisk kompensation förefaller att grunda sig i avsaknaden av intern målsättning, skepticism och brister i samverkan med svenska kommuner. / Biodiversity loss and deprivation of ecosystem services are one of the most significant global environmental challenges that humanity faces today. As a consequence of global urbanization, the demand for housing and real estate in urban areas grow through urban densification and urban sprawl. This results in a latent societal cost which manifests itself through loss of greenspace and urban ecosystem services. Ecological compensation is a prominent tool that can be utilized to counteract losses of natural capital. In this study the possibilities of ecological compensation in the context of real estate development in Sweden has been analyzed. The results convey that incentives for voluntary investments in ecological compensation may increase due to the amendments of the EU Taxonomy as well as the adaptation of environmental certifications. Furthermore, correlations between property values and ecosystem services have been elucidated. Moreover, the biggest challenges that seem to impede normalization of ecological compensation underlie in perceptual factors, the lack of internal goal-setting and the shortcomings of collaboration with the Swedish municipalities.

2015 antog världens länder 17 globala mål och Agenda 2030. I Sveriges nationella miljömålssystem fanns riktlinjer som gick i linje med Agenda 2030. Miljömålssystemet bestod bland annat av 16 miljökvalitetsmål. Denna studie fokuserade på ett av miljökvalitetsmålen, levande skogar och om skadelindringshierarkin kunde anses vara en metod för att uppnå detta mål. Skadelindringshierarkin består av fyra steg, 1. Undvika, 2. Minimera, 3. Återställa på plats, 4. Kompensera på annan plats. Tidigare studier hade visat att metoden var relativt ny i Sverige och att vissa problem fanns. Detta gjorde det intressant att redogöra för hur kommuner inom Örebro län arbetade med och tolkade metoden. En kvalitativ studie genomfördes där kommuner i Örebro län intervjuades. Resultatet visade att skadelindringshierarkin som begrepp var okänt, men att konceptet användes. Kommunerna ställde sig även positiva till metoden och ansåg att metoden kunde vara ett verktyg för kommunerna för att uppnå miljökvalitetsmålet levande skogar.