Australian insights
PLANR mapping tool updated(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Australian Government has released user interface updates to Platform for Land and Nature Repair (PLANR(Opens in a new tab/window)) to support the introduction of multiple Nature Repair Market methods. PLANR is an online geospatial application designed to support landholders participate in environmental markets, including the Nature Repair Market and the Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme. The mapping tool enables landholders and asset managers to explore, visualise and design nature repair and carbon projects. It enables users to undertake cost estimates for a mapped project and explore environmental accounts.
Future updates are planned for the Marketplace, a platform to connect buyers and sellers. Please contact the PLANR team at planr@dcceew.gov.au with suggestions on functionality and usability of the platform.
Ag2050 next steps - scenarios to decisions(Opens in a new tab/window)
CSIRO has published(Opens in a new tab/window) the Ag2050 discussion paper, prepared in partnership with the Australian Farm Institute, which identifies the near-term decisions, uncertainties and practical actions that will shape productive, resilient and sustainable Australian agriculture. The paper presents insights from the Ag2050 Roundtable, co-hosted by CSIRO and the Australian Farm Institute, involving more than 45 senior participants from government, industry, research, regional and Indigenous organisations. Australian agriculture needs to make clear, timely decisions across the three decision priorities: sovereign security, productivity and resilience; trusted sustainability reporting; and evolving agricultural innovation. The paper identifies 6 project concepts, across these three decision priorities, as an opportunity to establish a shared decision-focused agenda for agricultural R&D to 2050.
National EPA guidance to help farmers comply with national environmental laws(Opens in a new tab/window)
Australia’s National Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published(Opens in a new tab/window) practical guidance to support farmers and landholders comply with Australia’s national environmental laws. Recent reforms mean that ‘continuous use of land’ may no longer provide an exemption to compliance. These changes bring agriculture into line with other industries and provide greater protection for threatened species and habitat, including the Great Barrier Reef.
The guide is the first industry guidance released by the recently established National EPA and forms part of the ongoing implementation of environmental law reforms.
ASFI seeking service provider for Ag and Land Sector Transition work(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI) is seeking(Opens in a new tab/window) a service provider to support phase one of its Financing the Agriculture and Land Sector Transition work programme. The 18-month programme is looking to explore how fit-for-purpose finance deployed at scale can enable the transition to a decarbonised, nature-positive and resilient land sector.
Phase one will involve a six-month market diagnostic to establish a shared, evidence-based understanding of the green finance mechanisms currently available to landholders, their utilisation and the key barriers and drivers affecting deployment by financial institutions and adoption by landholders. ASFI is accepting proposals until 28 August 2026.
Valuing nature's contribution: a national ecosystem accounting perspective(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has published(Opens in a new tab/window) an information paper outlining its work on methodologies for valuing ecosystem services. The ABS’s approach draws on the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA), which integrates environmental and economic information within a single, internationally recognised accounting framework. While SEEA EA prioritises valuation techniques based on actual transactions or prices paid for ecosystem services, the ABS notes that some of the framework’s prescribed approaches are not yet feasible in practice, given current data availability and existing methodological constraints.
International insights
Which nature investment pays off?(Opens in a new tab/window)
The World Economic Forum has published(Opens in a new tab/window) an article highlighting that private capital investment in nature has increased approximately five-fold over the past decade, reaching US$14 billion in 2025. The WEF article finds that nature investment has diversified. This has been supported by a stable US market for wetland and stream credits backed by clear rules set by US regulators leading to institutional comfort for ecological restoration deals. Nature and capital are coming together in a variety of new arrangements in Latin America, which has attracted 28% of global nature capital deployment in the last 10 years. Sustainable agriculture deal volume more than tripled after 2020 versus the previous five years, while investment doubled from $10.8 billion to $22.2 billion. Now the right investment vehicles are needed to give farmers the incentive and security to invest in long-term regenerative practices.
Nature investments now cover at least 105 million hectares with another $183.5 billion slated for allocation by 2028. WEF’s dataset shows institutional deal counts have tripled and average ticket sizes have grown from $70 million in 2017 to $167 million in 2025.
Global Ecosystems Atlas: Private Sector User Engagement Survey(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Group on Earth Observations and its partners are developing(Opens in a new tab/window) the Global Ecosystems Atlas(Opens in a new tab/window) to create a comprehensive, standardised, shared resource on the distribution, condition and change of all ecosystems. The Atlas is intended to support national reporting, corporate disclosure, private investment, conservation and local action.
The private sector user engagement survey seeks to understand how different private-sector users currently use ecosystem data, what data are essential or useful for different workflows, where current data are unavailable or limited, and where a standardised ecosystem data resource could add value. This includes corporates, financial institutions, consultants, data platforms and other organisations supporting private-sector nature-related analysis. The survey will be open until 14 September 2026.
Conserving tropical forests could preserve billions of dollars in pharmaceutical value(Opens in a new tab/window)
Zero Carbon Analytics’ findings(Opens in a new tab/window) present a business case for pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and cosmetics companies to fund tropical forest conservation as they stand to benefit from undiscovered pharmaceuticals and digital sequence information. Its analysis finds that tropical forests could hold US$714 billion in commercial pharmaceutical value from flowering plants alone. Without intervention, it estimates that the total commercial value at risk since 2001 could reach up to US$287 billion by 2050.
Linking biodiversity credits and carbon credits(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA) has shared(Opens in a new tab/window) a knowledge brief summarising a working taxonomy to describe the ways biodiversity and carbon credits are currently being used together. The brief acknowledges that the biodiversity credit market remains (as of mid-2026) is at an early stage, and definitions related to market design and terminology are likely to evolve. The brief outlines four different approaches: carbon credits with biodiversity co-benefits, bundling (outcomes create single tradeable unit), stacking (separate carbon and biodiversity credits generated from the same project), and stapling (separate credits from different projects sold to the same buyer).
The BCA states that the key requirements are transparency and traceability. The brief surmises that stacking and bundling may help mobilise more finance for landscape-scale nature-based projects, while stapling and other climate and biodiversity ‘portfolio approaches’ may be more flexible where the best carbon and biodiversity opportunities are not co-located. Regardless of the model used, the High-Level Principles underpinning biodiversity credits (including those relating to rights, governance and equitable benefit-sharing) remain applicable.
Developing regional economic resilience through nature-based solutions(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Green Finance Initiative (GFI) has published(Opens in a new tab/window) a report on building business demand for resilience outcomes. The report argues that slow uptake of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in the UK is driven by weak demand, rather than a shortage of capital. The weak demand is linked to lack of clear, dependable revenue streams needed to support long-term, large-scale delivery. The report references a GBP 41 billion per year valuation of UK ecosystem services, and notes that quantification of the financial benefits of resilience by businesses would likely increase demand for NbS. GFI suggests demand aggregation (where several buyers fund one project) as a potential solution, and recommends regulatory sandbox pilots to build scalable, regulatory-compliant approaches to payments for resilience outcomes.
Mangrove Law and Policy In Practice: 2026 Case Studies(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Nature Conservancyhas published(Opens in a new tab/window) a companion to the Global Mangrove Alliance’s (GMA) 2023 Mangrove Law and Policy brief, which provides an analytical overview of the legal and governance frameworks that enable mangrove conservation, restoration, and sustainable use. GMA Policy Working Group members and partners have submitted case studies reflecting policy developments, implementation experiences and emerging lessons from a range of national and regional contexts. Nearly every case study demonstrates the role of civil society, research institutions, and multi-stakeholder platforms in driving and sustaining policy progress. This suggests that formal policy frameworks tend to be most effective when complemented by active networks capable of providing technical input, monitoring compliance, and maintaining political momentum across changes in government.
The role of biodiversity footprinting(Opens in a new tab/window)
An article published(Opens in a new tab/window) in the journal Business Strategy and the Environment discusses the role of biodiversity footprinting in mandatory and voluntary nature-related disclosure, assessment and target-setting frameworks and standards. The authors assess how consumption-based biodiversity footprinting methods align with three key standard and frameworks: the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN). The article finds that biodiversity footprinting can support impact prioritisation and reporting by providing a consistent starting point for assessments, but it also identifies challenges relating to materiality, spatial data requirements and biodiversity metrics.
Threads of Change – nature textiles yield benefits for people and planet(Opens in a new tab/window)
The United Nations Development Programme Mongolia has helped restore degraded pastures, improve grazing practices, strengthen adaptation to droughts and dzuds (steppe livestock disasters), and expand market opportunities for pastoral herding communities to sustainably produced cashmere, wool, and other natural fibres. From the rangelands of Mongolia to the global platform of 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Threads of Change(Opens in a new tab/window) campaign demonstrates the economic potential of sustainable land use and elevate the role of pastoralists and herders to audiences at COP17 and beyond. It reinforces the importance of partnerships in nature-positive solutions linked to livelihood opportunities and economically positive outcomes. COP17 of the UNCCD will be hosted by Mongolia in its capital city, Ulaanbaatar, from 17 to 28 August 2026.