Dossier : La fabrique de la compensation écologique : controverses et pratiques – Introduction. La fabrique de la compensation écologique, un approfondissement de la modernisation écologique ?. (French)

Introduction. The making of ecological compensation: towards more ecological modernization? (English)

The requirement of ecological compensation that had not applied since its first official introduction in France in 1976, has gradually imposed itself in French law for projects subject to environmental assessment. The 2016 law on biodiversity, which could have provided an opportunity to build a veritable right of compensation, leaves areas of uncertainty, both in terms of methodology (measurement of ecological equivalence, spatio-temporal dimensions) and governance (regulation of relationships between the different actors). Following analyses highlighting these shortcomings, we wished, in this issue, to address the current mechanisms of compensation and the various contributions that compose it. We provide keys to understanding this process through the controversies revolving around compensation, but also experiments to which it gives rise. Compensation thus appears as a tool that directs in a particular way the integration of the environment into public policies and, more broadly, into the economy: it induces this integration through a standardization process of nature designed to allow the displacement and substitution of the impacted nature. Furthermore, it does not solve governance problems which are left to the experts, the judge and self-regulation. The proposed analyzes are thus part of a wider context, which they help to illuminate, that of the profound transformations of the State's action in the dynamics of "ecological modernization". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longtemps peu appliquée, l'obligation de compensation écologique s'est peu à peu imposée, en droit français, aux projets soumis à évaluation environnementale. La loi de 2016 sur la biodiversité la rend obligatoire tout en en faisant un outil de « modernisation écologique ». Les différentes contributions qui composent ce dossier mettent cela en évidence au travers des controverses dont la compensation fait l'objet et des expérimentations qui sont mises en œuvre. La compensation apparaît ainsi comme un outil visant l'intégration de l'environnement dans les politiques publiques et, plus largement, dans l'économie, au travers d'une opération de standardisation de la nature destinée à permettre son déplacement et sa substitution quand elle est affectée. En outre, la loi laisse la gouvernance de la compensation aux experts, au juge et à l'autorégulation par les acteurs de terrain. Les analyses proposées s'inscrivent ainsi dans un contexte plus large qu'elles contribuent à éclairer, celui des profondes transformations de l'action de l'État dans la dynamique de « modernisation écologique ». [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)