Conservation groups have delivered a statement to the Australian parliament asking for “urgent and sustained” funding toward efforts to conserve and restore biodiversity, alongside wider calls for greater transparency in the country’s environmental law reform process.

Representatives from the Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA) conference in Canberra delivered the joint statement to Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek Thursday, which received input from delegates during a conference held earlier this week.

In a press release, ALCA CEO Jody Gunn demanded stronger policy, action, and resourcing on the environment.

“There has never been a more urgent or serious need to protect, manage, and restore nature. The impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change are indiscriminatory, and are affecting livelihoods from urban areas to rural communities,” she said.

The statement to parliament called on the Albanese government to deliver “urgent and sustained whole-of-government funding for Australian biodiversity that genuinely matches the urgency and seriousness of the nature crisis”.

It also said the government needed to invest in the capacity and capability of the Australian private land conservation workforce and its current and future leaders to deliver for Australian biodiversity.

“There is a vast gap between the resources that the conservation and land management sector currently have to deliver, and what is required to address the interconnected crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and to deliver on the global and Australian commitment to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” Gunn said.

Earlier this week, independent Senator David Pocock told the conference that the government needed to prioritise direct funding into nature and biodiversity restoration in the same way it prioritised spending in other areas.

“You hear some of the amounts of money that get thrown around when it comes to basically every other portfolio, infrastructure, health, defence, and then when it comes to the environment A$10-20 million seems like a lot, but we’re a massive continent,” he said, referring to a funding commitment announced by Plibersek.

“We have major parties who are willing to do the bare minimum and then patch it up by saying we’re spending more now than we ever have, but we know that’s not enough.”

MEETING TARGETS

The joint statement also said that the government needed to “leverage the resources and strategies required” to increase private land conservation in Australia and deliver on its domestic and international commitments.

These include reducing the risk of species extinction, protecting 30% of Australian land and inland waters by 2030, and restoring 30% of degraded land and inland waters by the same date.

It also said Australia needed to set “strong and measurable targets and actions for Australia’s national biodiversity strategies and action plans” and encourage the role of private land conservation in reversing biodiversity loss.

Ken Henry, chair of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, at the conference highlighted the need for clear and measurable targets that could be understood by the general public in the same way that economic statistics are kept and reported on.

“What we need governments to do now is to embrace targets … that we the community can hold governments to account for the achievement of, and in the ballot box punish them when they don’t achieve those targets, as we punish them when they don’t achieve economic or social targets,” he said.

In a speech to a Global Diversity Information Facility event on Wednesday, Plibersek noted providing information to the public was essential, which is why the government was establishing a new agency, Environment Information Australia.

She said EIA would deliver better information to the environmental approval system, data that would support regional planning and conservation, and offer regular reporting on national goals and the state of the environment.

“We’re setting ambitious targets for protection, but without this consistent reporting, we won’t know whether we’re on track to meet them,” she said.

“This information will be open and accessible to all. We won’t be hiding these updates … we believe in transparency.”

REFORMS

Plibersek used the first day of the conference to provide details on the consultation process for the reforms to Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity (EPBC) Act.

However, NGOs have raised concerns that the consultation’s “lock-up” style process could limit proper scrutiny and feedback on the reforms.

Earlier this week, over 50 NGOs released a statement calling on the government to enshrine transparency rights into Australia’s environment laws.

The rights group called for access to information that authorities hold, to have a genuine say in decision-making, and to seek legal remedy if decisions are made illegally or not in the public interest.

It urged for the cultural and self-determination rights of First Nations, including to give or withhold free, prior, and informed consent.

“EPBC reforms and standards that simply affirm the existing status quo, risk setting the reformed laws up for failure, exacerbating public distrust, and further eroding social licence for development projects,” the statement said.

It said current community consultation approaches needed to be improved, and avenues to challenge decisions need to be expanded to include merits review.

The statement added that soon-to-be established federal environmental government agencies Environment Protection Australia and EIA, must operate in ways that are open, transparent, and responsive to community concerns.

“Failure to enshrine these rights in the reformed law would also risk breaching Australia’s binding international legal obligations and undermining Australia’s aspirations to be a global leader on issues relating to the environment,” it said.

“We call on you to seize the opportunity of the current EPBC reform process to properly and comprehensively enshrine community and First Nation rights to rebuild trust and integrity in our environment laws.”

Groups that signed the statement included the Wilderness Society, Environment Defenders Office, Oxfam Australia, WWF, Australian Conservation Foundations, Amnesty International, and others.

By Mark Tilly – mark@carbon-pulse.com

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