Saving the planet has become a financial product that might actually destroy it.
April 17, 2026
Original Paper
Private Equity and Biodiversity Offset Markets
SSRN · 6462661
The Takeaway
Private equity firms are rushing into the 'biodiversity offset' market, selling credits that claim to protect nature. But while they are great at selling the credits, they aren't setting aside the money needed to protect that land for the long term. It’s a systemic loophole where we are financializing nature without any real accountability for the environmental outcome. The result is a system where we 'offset' destruction today with a promise of protection that might vanish when the private equity firm moves on. For the planet, it’s a dangerous trade: certain destruction for a very uncertain survival.
From the abstract
We study the real effects of private equity (PE) in the U.S. biodiversity offset market, where federal law requires firms that damage wetlands and streams to purchase credits from approved providers, known as mitigation banks. We construct a novel project-level dataset covering all U.S. mitigation banks, combining regulatory records with ownership information, geospatial ecological measures, and detailed data on financial safeguards. We find that PE entry is concentrated where portfolio companie