Consumers and Biodiversity Offsets: Exploring Diverse Perspectives of Corporate Responsibility

FUNDER

BES Pump Priming Fund (Coventry University)

VALUE

£5,000

COLLABORATORS

Dr Carlos Ferreira, Dr Caroline Moraes, Jordon Lazell

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

This study aims to explore consumers’ normative and ethical preferences with regards to corporate responsibility (CR), and the role of companies in the governance of nature, in order to identify diverse consumer perspectives on CR.

This will be done using the existing biodiversity offsetting pilot programmes in England as contexts. The research will focus on three specific questions:

1. What are consumers’ normative preferences for balancing nature conservation and development?
2. What expectations do consumers have of companies and what roles do they attribute to such companies in terms of responsible governance of nature?
3. Do consumers’ ethical preferences translate into support for biodiversity offsetting?

RESEARCH IMPACT

This research will seek to produce academic, policy and industry-relevant information about consumers’ perceptions of responsible business practices in the context of the creation of markets for biodiversity offsets. This will address knowledge gaps in terms of the variety of consumer attitudes to companies’ CR strategies, as well as their understanding and preferences with regards to trade-offs between nature conservation and development.

The project will also investigate how UK consumers see biodiversity offsetting and the idea of no net loss of biodiversity, as well as explore how biodiversity offsets can be used by companies in their CR strategies and communication.

The project is designed to deliver maximum impact among academic, policymakers, and NGOs, guaranteeing co-production and diffusion of knowledge internationally through a wide network over short, medium and long terms.

To ensure this, a Project Steering Group has been constituted, with the objective of grounding the research in ongoing practice and helping deliver social and economic impact.