Sydney conference aims to cure Mother Nature’s ills

Leading environmental and financial minds will descend on Sydney for a world-first global summit in a bid to fuel billions of dollars of nature funding.

Sydney will host the first Global Nature Positive Summit in early October 2024, the federal and NSW governments jointly announced on Sunday.

The summit will provide a forum for delegates including ministers, environment groups, First Nations peoples, business, scientists and community leaders to brainstorm ways to supercharge investment in nature-repairing projects.

A global biodiversity framework, agreed to by 196 countries at a United Nations conference last year, set a target of $US200 billion a year to be spent on nature repair by 2030.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek acknowledged government funding was critical to the task but said many others groups must also play a role.

‘A mighty global effort’

“Turning the tide like this, from nature destruction to nature repair, will require a mighty global effort,” she said in a statement.

“We need government leading the way, but we also need the private sector, environmentalists and First Nations groups all pulling in the same direction.

“We’re bringing the best environmental and financial minds to Australia, to share our expertise, and discuss how we work together to protect this planet for our kids and grandkids.”

The summit will also focus on transparency and reporting on measuring the nature-repairing affects of projects and developing partnerships and capacity, including through greater landholder participation.

-AAP