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Positive change for nature?

Thursday, October 17, 2024

The global Nature Positive Summit took place last week, 8-10th October in Sydney. The Summit was co-hosted by the Australian federal and New South Wales state governments. It connected leaders from government, corporate sectors, research and environmental organisations and Indigenous Peoples.

The view from the Honourable Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Environment and Water, Australia is that “The Australian Government is doing more than ever to make our economy nature positive. We’re committed to stopping nature’s decline. That means zero new extinctions and stopping biodiversity loss by protecting and conserving 30 percent of Australia’s land and marine areas by 2030.”

Source: Global Nature Positive Summit - DCCEEW

And, The Honourable Penny Sharpe, Minister for Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister for the Environment, Minister for Heritage, New South Wales, Australia states that; “in New South Wales we're working on the following key things:

• We're taking action on climate change.
• We're protecting what's left.
• And we're looking at ways in which we can restore what has been harmed.”

Source: Global Nature Positive Summit - DCCEEW

The three days of talks will hopefully deliver some action. Australia is the sixth most biodiverse country in the world and has listed 2,224 species and ecological communities as threatened with extinction. These losses are predicted to escalate if we continue business as usual and allow continued decline of ecosystems.

Despite having pledged to end deforestation by 2030, Australia is the only deforestation hotspot among developed nations. Land clearing continues apace in northern Australia, often without being assessed under national environmental laws.

WIRES CEO Leanne Taylor attended the Summit and stated “WIRES welcomes the shift in focus to nature positive outcomes for Australia which the Summit emphasised. There is a need for clear action to protect the habitat of our unique wildlife, supported by strong and effective nature laws. Change is possible but it needs to happen now.”