Biodiversity Offsetting’s Structural Vulnerability to Naturewashing

As biodiversity offsetting becomes increasingly adopted in environmental policies and corporate strategies, scholars have exposed its theoretical, practical, and ethical shortcomings. These are now joined by concerns about potential greenwashing. This paper investigates that possibility by applying four established greenwashing markers (namely, selective discourse, decoupling, attention deflection, and deceptive manipulation) through an argument by analogy. The analysis finds evidence of all four markers, albeit to varying degrees, suggesting that biodiversity offsetting is structurally vulnerable to naturewashing (i.e. a form of greenwashing). The paper concludes by outlining the reputational, financial, and ecological consequences that may arise should this vulnerability materialize.