Mid Sweden University

Governance and Law are intrinsically intertwined in addressing the endeavour to achieve a sustainable development. Latest environmental agendas of the UN and the EU imply global environmental and biodiversity net gains as the ultimate goal for a sustainable development even already till 2030. This chapter strives to assess the role which law can play within the implementation of these latest worldwide and regional policy directions. It does so through outlining as proposed research agenda. Hermeneutic methods are applied such as comparative legal analyses and different types of text interpretation (e.g. historic, wording, rational). The findings identify for this research agenda three major parts, namely  

1. the assessment of the interpretation of net gain in connection with law related to the new UN and EU biodiversity and environment net‐gain agendas.

2. The analysis how existing and future law can contribute to environmental and biodiversity net‐gains by enabling voluntary behaviour (sufficiency), prescribing and implementing binding behaviour (effectiveness), increasing current and future biodiversity's representation (ecological equity) and/or enabling efficiency while ending rebound effects (eco‐efficiency)

3. The elaboration of the legal integration among these four criteria assessed in terms of interrelation, decision‐making, instrument‐and policy mixes as well as geopolitical legal interplay towards environmental and biodiversity net‐gains.The proposed research agenda with these three parts is capable to provide a common basic understanding for environmental and biodiversity net‐gains in relation to law as well as a starting point for steering the regional and global implementation of this new international policy objective enabling a sustainable development. The presentation has its focus on SDG 16 as it particular guides SDG 16.3.“16.3 Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all” as well as 15.5 “Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species”.