Perceptions of environmental compensation in different scientific fields

Environmental compensation is used worldwide, but remains a concept under development in many countries. The underlying idea is to maintain the overall quality of the environment in cases where environmental assets are damaged, for example, by residential or industrial development or by road construction. This study aimed to investigate how environmental compensation is perceived in a number of scientific fields and what the differences, if any, are between those fields. The results showed that the respondents took a positive view of environmental compensation in general, of the inclusion of social aspects and of the role of NGOs, but that they also (implicitly) questioned the mitigation hierarchy. The study also revealed several differences between the scientific disciplines, though mainly in the differing strengths of the groups’ convictions.