There’s some great news in the Australian Government’s budget for the 2023–24 financial year, with $51.5 allocated to establishing a new entity, Environment Information Australia.
According to the Australian Associated Press, Environment Information Australia will guide the development of high-quality information to underpin the nature repair task that lies ahead.
We’ll look forward to learning more about this new entity over the coming weeks and, in particular, the role that natural capital accounting can play in ensuring robust and internationally comparable data are available to all stakeholders.
From our perspective, it can only be a good thing that more money is being invested into tracking and measuring the state of nature. This will support businesses and organisations as they make decisions about where to invest and allow the public to understand the effectiveness of different investments in the landscape.
Our Director, Carl Obst says: “The leadership of the Commonwealth Government in this area is very welcome and we look forward to supporting the efforts to increase transparency and accountability with respect to environmental outcomes and their implications for our economy and society.”
Meanwhile, $121.0 million has been allocated to establish Environment Protection Australia, with the Australian Government aiming to restore public trust in environmental laws and ensure integrity and efficiency in regulatory approvals.