How much compensation should those building new housing estates or shopping centres provide for the damage they cause to wildlife? And how do you make sure you do not become so zealous in protecting newts that you stop any new development? These are tricky problems for governments to grapple with.
Some background. New built developments harm the natural environment. Accepting that basic premise, governments the world over have adopted various types of legislation to help prevent ‘excessive’ environmental damage. Of course, what might or might not be excessive is in the eye of the beholder…
See the full blog post on Policy Exchange’s Greener, Cheaper blog