Avington Merinos among red gums on the central Victorian property.

FARMERS for Climate Action will hold a Biodiversity On Farm webinar tomorrow that will outline the Federal Government’s proposed Nature Repair Market.

The Federal Government is working on the flagship program to drive investment in biodiversity through the Nature Repair Market. It is currently making its way through the Parliament.

A recent independently developed PriceWaterhouseCoopers Report found an Australian biodiversity market could unlock $137 billion in financial flows to advance biodiversity outcomes by 2050. More than half of this activity ($78 billion) is forecast to be driven by biodiversity, conservation and natural capital-themed bonds, loans, debt, and equity.

Demand for the market is expected to come from several sources, including carbon market participants seeking projects that also benefit nature and; philanthropic and environmental, social and corporate governance-motivated investment, driven by reporting and disclosure requirements such as the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures.

In future, the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act could also drive demand for nature repair projects. The Federal Government is reforming Commonwealth environmental laws, including offset requirements. It will legislate a new National Environmental Standard to ensure offsets are a last resort and, if required, will more than compensate for the impacts of development. The new national standard for environmental offsets will determine which types of projects could compensate for development impacts.

The Biodiversity on Farm webinar will be held at 12pm (AEDT) on Thursday 1 June via Zoom.

Last week Farmers for Climate Action asked farmers across Australia what they thought of the proposed Nature Repair Market and received more than 450 responses within a few days. With a lot of conjecture and uncertainty about what it would mean for farmers, FFCA is bringing together two experts to outline their thoughts.

Speakers will include Les White, who has worked in politics and helped design the previous government’s biodiversity plan and David Lindenmayer, a world leading professor with expertise in environmental management. Together they will pull apart what this means for farmers and for biodiversity as a whole, FFCA said.

Click on this link to register for the webinar: Biodiversity on farm.

The session will be recorded and made available in the days afterwards for registrants.