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Australia’s environment Ministers met in Brisbane on Friday 21st October for the first time in over 500 days. All state and territory Environment Ministers attended. The meeting was chaired by Federal Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek MP.
In recognition of the scale and urgency of environmental challenges, all the ministers agreed:
To work collectively to achieve a national target
to protect and conserve 30% of Australia’s landmass and 30% of Australia’s marine areas by 2030.
To note the Commonwealths’ intention to establish a national nature repair market and agreed to work together to make nature positive investments easier, focusing on a consistent way to measure and track biodiversity.
To work with the private sector to design out waste and pollution, keep materials in use and foster markets to achieve a circular economy by 2030.
The full communique was agreed to by all Ministers and can be found at Communiques – DCCEEW.
Minister for Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek MP, said:
“I’m pleased to convene Environment Ministers for the first meeting in over 500 days.
“Australians can already see the difference a Labor Government brings. The environment is back. People are telling me it’s the breath of fresh air our nation desperately needed.
“We obviously can’t fix the decade of Liberal environmental damage overnight.
“But we’ve hit the ground running. Among the policy changes announced are:
- Higher ambition on climate change. A clear path to net zero.
- A target of no new extinctions.
- A crackdown on gases that are bad for the ozone layer.
- Reforming our laws to better protect the environment and give business quicker, clearer decisions.
- An Environmental Protection Agency – a tough cop on the beat to enforce those laws.
- A commitment to protect 30 per cent our land and 30 percent of our oceans by 2030.
- We’ve announced a new nature repair market, to reward farmers and other landholders for their work in restoring and protecting the environment,
- We’ve committed to expanding Blue Carbon Projects – more mangroves, sea grass – making our oceans cleaner and getting carbon out of the atmosphere.
- Reducing problematic plastic, developing environmentally friendly plastic alternatives.
- Making recycling easier for families and businesses.
- Taking action on feral species.
“There’s always more to do,” said Ms Plibersek, “but we’re getting on with it as fast as we can.
“I look forward to working with my state and territory Ministerial colleagues to protect and restore our environment.”
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