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NSW government says state’s biodiversity ‘in crisis’ as it pledges first steps to reverse decline

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Tuesday, July 16, 2024

The New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying “we cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis”.The Minns government is proposing to develop a new nature strategy that would be enshrined in law and set targets for conservation and restoration, including landscape restoration, species recovery and addressing threats to nature.Sharpe said the government would also amend state laws by the end of this year to fulfil its promise to reform NSW’s biodiversity offsets scheme after a 2021 Guardian Australia investigation uncovered serious problems that triggered several inquiries.“Our goal must be to leave nature better off than we have found it,” she said.Sharpe said the response, which fully or partially accepts 49 out of 58 recommendations from the 2023 review led by the former treasury secretary Ken Henry, set out immediate priorities and “is the start of concerted action, reform, investment”.Henry’s review found the state’s environment laws would not succeed without substantial changes and warned half of the species under threat in NSW were on course to become extinct within the next 100 years.After the review was released last year, he called for the natural environment to be made the top priority in government policy and legislation.Henry told Guardian Australia on Tuesday that the government’s response was a “serious attempt” to tackle the problems identified in his review and demonstrated it understood the scale of the nature crisis.But he said many of the government’s proposed actions would take a long time to deliver and they stopped short of putting laws that protected and enhanced nature ahead of other land management concerns.“They’re not giving it statutory primacy,” he said. “They seem to want to tackle it in a different way.”The Minns government’s response proposes several measures to be implemented over time, including: Introducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets; Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme; Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided; Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment. Among the proposed measures intended to fix the state’s environmental offsets scheme, the government is proposing that the current standard that calls for “no net loss” to the environment be transitioned to a requirement that the scheme delivers a “net positive”.The government said it was “committed to offsets being a genuine last resort” and it would introduce a new statutory standard requiring developers to demonstrate how they had genuinely avoided and minimised impacts to biodiversity, particularly for species and ecosystems at risk of irreversible impacts.Endangered woodland on the Cumberland Plain in western Sydney. Photograph: Carly Earl/The GuardianThe steps developers had taken to avoid and minimise impacts would be made public on a new register.The government is proposing to act on recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry by removing the ability for mining companies to count future rehabilitation of mine sites towards their offset requirements. It is also proposing to limit the circumstances in which developers can pay into a fund to transfer their offsetting obligations to the Biodiversity Conservation Trust.The report does not set out the specific steps the government will take to stop the state’s high rates of land clearing.Before the 2023 state election, Sharpe said NSW’s system of environment protections needed more “red lines” to protect ecosystems that were suffering.The government’s response does not identify any proposed “no go zones” for development but Sharpe said proposed new biodiversity maps were intended to give clear guidance on where areas of high environmental value were located and where impacts should be avoided.She said the government’s proposal to enshrine targets for nature conservation was a similar approach to the one it had taken with recent climate change legislation.“In my view, this leads to the biodiversity crisis being treated as a similar crisis to climate change,” Sharpe said.In response to a separate review of the native vegetation provisions of the Local Land Services Act, the government is proposing to strengthen some environmental protections and oversight.But it is proposing a larger independent review of biodiversity protections on rural land in response to high rates of land clearing.

Government will also overhaul state laws after Guardian Australia uncovered serious problems with biodiversity offsets schemeGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying “we cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis”.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundupIntroducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets;Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme;Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided;Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment. Continue reading...

The New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.

The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying “we cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis”.

The Minns government is proposing to develop a new nature strategy that would be enshrined in law and set targets for conservation and restoration, including landscape restoration, species recovery and addressing threats to nature.

Sharpe said the government would also amend state laws by the end of this year to fulfil its promise to reform NSW’s biodiversity offsets scheme after a 2021 Guardian Australia investigation uncovered serious problems that triggered several inquiries.

“Our goal must be to leave nature better off than we have found it,” she said.

Sharpe said the response, which fully or partially accepts 49 out of 58 recommendations from the 2023 review led by the former treasury secretary Ken Henry, set out immediate priorities and “is the start of concerted action, reform, investment”.

Henry’s review found the state’s environment laws would not succeed without substantial changes and warned half of the species under threat in NSW were on course to become extinct within the next 100 years.

After the review was released last year, he called for the natural environment to be made the top priority in government policy and legislation.

Henry told Guardian Australia on Tuesday that the government’s response was a “serious attempt” to tackle the problems identified in his review and demonstrated it understood the scale of the nature crisis.

But he said many of the government’s proposed actions would take a long time to deliver and they stopped short of putting laws that protected and enhanced nature ahead of other land management concerns.

“They’re not giving it statutory primacy,” he said. “They seem to want to tackle it in a different way.”

The Minns government’s response proposes several measures to be implemented over time, including:

Introducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets;
Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme;
Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided;
Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment.

Among the proposed measures intended to fix the state’s environmental offsets scheme, the government is proposing that the current standard that calls for “no net loss” to the environment be transitioned to a requirement that the scheme delivers a “net positive”.

The government said it was “committed to offsets being a genuine last resort” and it would introduce a new statutory standard requiring developers to demonstrate how they had genuinely avoided and minimised impacts to biodiversity, particularly for species and ecosystems at risk of irreversible impacts.

Endangered woodland on the Cumberland Plain in western Sydney. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

The steps developers had taken to avoid and minimise impacts would be made public on a new register.

The government is proposing to act on recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry by removing the ability for mining companies to count future rehabilitation of mine sites towards their offset requirements. It is also proposing to limit the circumstances in which developers can pay into a fund to transfer their offsetting obligations to the Biodiversity Conservation Trust.

The report does not set out the specific steps the government will take to stop the state’s high rates of land clearing.

Before the 2023 state election, Sharpe said NSW’s system of environment protections needed more “red lines” to protect ecosystems that were suffering.

The government’s response does not identify any proposed “no go zones” for development but Sharpe said proposed new biodiversity maps were intended to give clear guidance on where areas of high environmental value were located and where impacts should be avoided.

She said the government’s proposal to enshrine targets for nature conservation was a similar approach to the one it had taken with recent climate change legislation.

“In my view, this leads to the biodiversity crisis being treated as a similar crisis to climate change,” Sharpe said.

In response to a separate review of the native vegetation provisions of the Local Land Services Act, the government is proposing to strengthen some environmental protections and oversight.

But it is proposing a larger independent review of biodiversity protections on rural land in response to high rates of land clearing.

Read the full story here.

Photos courtesy of

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Negotiators gathered in Busan, South Korea, on Monday in a final push to create a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution.It's the fifth time the world's nations convene to craft a legally binding plastic pollution accord. In addition to the national delegations, representatives from the plastics industry, scientists and environmentalists have come to shape how the world tackles the surging problem. “Don’t kick the can, or the plastic bottle, down the road," U.N. Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen said in a message aimed at negotiators. This “is an issue about the intergenerational justice of those generations that will come after us and be living with all this garbage. We can solve this and we must get it done in Busan,” she said in an interview.The previous four global meetings have revealed sharp differences in goals and interests. This week's talks go through Saturday. 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Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter of primary polypropylene, a common type of plastic, accounting for an estimated 17% of exports last year, according to the Plastics Industry Association. China, the United States and Germany led the global plastics trade by exports and imports in 2023, the association said.The plastics industry has been advocating for a treaty focused on redesigning plastic products, recycling and reuse, sometimes referred to as “circularity.” Chris Jahn, International Council of Chemical Associations secretariat, said negotiators should focus on ending plastic waste in the environment, not plastic production, to get a deal. Many countries won’t join a treaty if it includes production caps, he said.To continue to progress and grow as a global economy, there are going to be more plastics, Jahn added.“So we should strive then to keep those plastics in the economy and out of the environment,” Jahn said.The United States delegation at first said countries should develop their own plans to act, a position viewed as favoring industry. It changed its position this summer, saying the U.S. is open to considering global targets for reductions in plastic production.Environmental groups accused the U.S. of backtracking as negotiations approached.Center for Coalfield Justice executive director Sarah Martik said the United States is standing on the sidelines rather than leading, putting “their thumb on the scale throughout the entirety of the negotiations.” She hopes this does not derail other countries’ ambition. Democratic U.S. Sen. 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The treaty is the only way to solve plastic pollution at this scale, said Douglas McCauley, professor at UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley. McCauley co-led the research.Margaret Spring, chief conservation and science officer for Monterey Bay Aquarium, said plastic pollution used to be considered largely a waste problem. Now it is widely viewed as an existential crisis that must be addressed, said Spring, who represents the International Science Council at the negotiations.“I’ve never seen people’s understanding of this issue move as fast, given how complex the topic is,” she said. “It gives me hope that we can actually start moving the dial.”The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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NSW government says state’s biodiversity ‘in crisis’ as it pledges first steps to reverse decline

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NSW government says state’s biodiversity ‘in crisis’ as it pledges first steps to reverse decline

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