Australian insights
Join Nature Positive Matters’ webinar: Building the business case for nature
Nature Positive Matters is hosting a webinar on 27 November 2025 to share insights from business leaders and experts on building a business case for nature-related action.
Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Australian Government has introduced(Opens in a new tab/window) the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, a package of 7 Bills, to amend the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and 11 other Acts to implement substantive reforms. These include national environmental standards, ‘unacceptable impacts’, ‘net gain’ and restoration charges in lieu of environmental offsets, reforms to the national interest exemption and a new ‘national interest proposal’, streamlining reforms to approvals and accreditation pathways, reforms of the nuclear actions trigger, improved compliance and enforcement powers, and increases in criminal penalties and civil penalties. The Bills have been referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications for inquiry and report by 24 March 2026.
Value of the Great Barrier Reef - Australia’s fifth largest employer(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Great Barrier Reef Foundation has shared findings(Opens in a new tab/window) by Deloitte Access Economics that the total economic, social and icon value of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) to Australia has grown to $95 billion — up from $56 billion in 2017 — spanning tourism, fisheries, aquaculture, research and conservation. The GBR supports the employment of over 76,500 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, of which 55,900 work within the GBR region. With 53,700 FTEs working directly in businesses or organisations that facilitate the economy, if the Reef were a business, it would be the fifth largest employer in Australia. The report also finds that climate action and investment in reef resilience creates a $124 billion economic opportunity over the next 50 years.
First nationally accredited carbon farming training on Yawuru Country(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Aboriginal Carbon Foundation (AbCF) has reported(Opens in a new tab/window) on the first nationally accredited carbon farming training to take place on Yawuru Country in Broome. AbCF noted this was a milestone for the Kimberley and for climate action across northern Australia. A range of key Indigenous organisations who live, work, and care for Country came together to build the skills, knowledge, and leadership to strengthen carbon projects that deliver cultural, environmental, social, and economic benefits. The training brought together representatives from the Dambimangari Traditional Owners and Rangers, Wilinggin Traditional Owners and Senior Rangers, Balanggarra Traditional Owners and Directors, Kwini Rangers, and staff from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
Global AI challenge to transform pasture management(Opens in a new tab/window)
CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, in partnership with Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and Google Australia, has launched(Opens in a new tab/window) a global competition with a US$75,000 prize pool to advance the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture. Hosted on Kaggle(Opens in a new tab/window), the challenge seeks to improve the accuracy and efficiency of estimating pasture biomass; this is the amount of grass and other edible plants available for livestock to graze, a critical factor in grazing management that impacts productivity, environmental sustainability and biodiversity. The AI challenge closes on 28 January 2026.
Australian Geographic Society’s Awards for Nature(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Australian Geographic Society's Awards for Nature has awarded(Opens in a new tab/window) five projects, to share in $150,000, that protect against invasive species and biodiversity loss. This includes Bug Hunt, a citizen-science project tackling invasive invertebrates, as well as C411 COUNTRY, a transformative, landscape-scale initiative that aims to link fragmented habitats across 128,000ha of the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges in Victoria, C411 COUNTRY will engage 20 local landholders, empowering them to become active custodians of their land and will respect cultural authority and embed Traditional Owner values in planning and implementation.
International insights
Natural Capital Insight 2025(Opens in a new tab/window)
Environmental Finance, a platform for news and analysis on sustainable investment, has published(Opens in a new tab/window) its annual Natural Capital Insight report, with articles featuring how investors, asset managers, and data providers are incorporating nature-related risks into their decisions and identifying investments to protect and restore nature. It highlights insights for drivers of natural capital investment, how pension funds are integrating nature-related risks into their investment strategies, and how AI and geospatial intelligence can better make nature and biodiversity factors measurable, actionable, and decision-ready for corporates and investors.
Investing in Critical Systems(Opens in a new tab/window)
Landscape Finance Lab and Equilibrium Research have published(Opens in a new tab/window) a framework for investors and land managers to identify high-impact landscapes that offer ecological, social, and economic returns. The framework prioritises four biomes including rainforests, wetlands, coral reefs, and agricultural lands, and is based on biodiversity value, ecosystem services, human dependency, risk exposure and restoration potential. It outlines a three-step process: selecting biomes, identifying high-impact landscapes for investment through screening criteria, and aligning financing strategies based on landscapes’ development stage and maturity. The framework emphasises the importance of blending capital from multiple sources, including grants, debt, equity and market-based, to de-risk and achieve systemic, nature outcomes at scale.
UNESCO and LVMH sign a new five-year partnership(Opens in a new tab/window)
UNESCO and LVMH Group announce(Opens in a new tab/window) the renewal of their partnership dedicated to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. This new agreement, entitled “For the Beauty of the Living”, strengthens and expands the cooperation first initiated in 2019 around UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme. Now extending beyond the scope of this programme, the partnership aims to intensify joint actions by mobilising all of UNESCO’s education, science and cultural programmes, with the active support of LVMH. It also includes a new project conducted with the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, focused on the sustainable management of marine areas.
Handbook for managing nature-related risks in Financial Services(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Climate Financial Risk Forum, an industry initiative jointly established by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority, has published(Opens in a new tab/window) a handbook providing practical guidance for banks, insurers, and asset managers to understand, assess, and manage nature-related risks alongside climate risks. The handbook offers case studies, systemic risk assessment principles, and actionable steps for integrating nature risk into financial decision-making. It explores and provides examples of the interconnectedness of nature and climate through feedback loops that can either exacerbate or alleviate environmental and economic risks.
CDP-TNFD interoperability mapping(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has released(Opens in a new tab/window) an interoperability mapping between CDP’s 2025 corporate questionnaire and the TNFD’s disclosure recommendations and metrics. CDP and TNFD have differences in their respective approaches, with two key differences relating to the coverage of environmental issues and materiality. The interoperability mapping aims to support market participants, including corporates, financial institutions and investors, in understanding how CDP’s disclosure questionnaire can enable TNFD-aligned reporting.
Explainer: Using the Accountability Framework to address nature-related issues(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Accountability Framework initiative (AFi) has published(Opens in a new tab/window) an explainer on using the Accountability Framework to address nature-related goals, risks and disclosures. The Accountability Framework offers a roadmap for immediate ‘no-regrets’ actions to reduce corporate impacts on nature in line with leading instruments such as TNFD, SBTN, and SBTi. The AFi’s nature Explainer offers companies additional information to understand the role of deforestation and conversion in leading frameworks for nature goal setting and disclosure, to navigate key concepts related to nature goals, including double materiality and the mitigation hierarchy and to use the Accountability Framework to set goals, take action, and report progress on nature action.