Background to the Biodiversity Summit 2006

Biodiversity is the living fabric of the planet – the diversity of ecosystems, species and genes which make up life on earth.  Australia has a special responsibility as one of 17 mega-diverse countries that collectively hold about 70% of the world’s plants and animals.  We have more endemic animal species than any other country.  We are also unique in spanning an entire continent and its surrounding seas within one political jurisdiction.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act), which commenced in July 2000, is Australia’s national legislation to protect biodiversity.  It gives effect to several international conventions, including particularly the Convention on Biological Diversity.  Among its objectives are:  to provide for the protection of the environment, especially those aspects that are matters of national environmental significance, and to promote the conservation of biodiversity.

The EPBC Act replaced a series of Commonwealth acts including the Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974 (Cth) (EPIP Act), the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975 (Cth), the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983 (Cth) and the Endangered Species Protection Act (1992) (Cth).  In drawing all these responsibilities under one act, it aimed to establish an ‘integrated regime’ for biodiversity conservation, recognising World Heritage areas, Ramsar wetlands, Commonwealth marine areas, migratory species, and threatened species and communities as matters of national environmental significance. 

Until now, the federal Minister for the Environment has been responsible for making decisions under the EPBC Act, but COAG (the Council of Australian Governments) at its most recent meeting agreed to work on delegating decision-making power to the states and territories.

Convention on Biological Diversity

Australia became a signatory to the Biodiversity Convention on 5 June 1992.  It was ratified on 18th June 1993.  Article 8 of the Biodiversity Convention relates to in situ conservation.  It states that each contracting party shall:

promote  the protection of ecosystems, natural habitats and the maintenance of viable populations of species in natural surroundings;

promote environmentally sound and sustainable development in areas adjacent to protected areas with a view to furthering protection of these areas;

rehabilitate and restore degraded ecosystems and promote the recovery of threatened species, inter alia, through the development and implementation of plans or other management strategies.

For the complete text of the Biodiversity Convention and related information: www.biodiv.org

2010 Biodiversity Target – the Strategic Plan for the Convention on Biological Diversity

Parties to the Biodiversity Convention, including Australia, commited themselves ‘to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth’.  Australia’s most recent progress report relied heavily on the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological Diversity (see below).  By contrast, governments and civil society groups in Europe have taken up the challenge with enthusiasm under the banner of Countdown 2010 -- life is ticking away, and it’s time to move from words to action.

Strategic Plan  www.biodiv.org/sp/default.shtml

Countdown 2010 www.countdown2010.net/index.html

Millennium ecosystem assessment

The millennium ecosystem assessment completed in 2005 is a global synthesis of the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being.  ‘The bottom line of the MA findings is that human actions are depleting Earth’s natural capital, putting such strain on the environment that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted. At the same time, the assessment shows that with appropriate actions it is possible to reverse the degradation of many ecosystem services over the next 50 years, but the changes in policy and practice required are substantial and not currently underway.

www.millenniumassessment.org/en/about.overview.aspx

EPBC Act

For an overview of the Act and its processes, and access to the full text of the legislation, see www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/index.html

National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological Diversity

The Strategy was written in 1996 and aimed to ‘protect biodiversity and maintain ecological processes and systems’.  It was reviewed in 2001, with a series of actions to be completed by 2005.  Nothing has been published since.  http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/strategy/index.html

State of the Environment (SOE) Report

The national SOE report is published every five years.  The 2001 report concluded that:  ‘During the 1990s, Australia’s biodiversity has experienced continued degradation and decline’.  The next report is due to be presented to the Environment Minister by the end of September 2006, and tabled in parliament within 15 sitting days.  It seems unlikley to present a more optimistic picture.  www.deh.gov.au/soe/2006/index.html

COAG Review

At its July 2006 meeting, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed, as part of a push to reduce the ‘regulatory burden’, to make development assessment processes a priority for reform.  The EPBC Act makes it possible for environmental assessment and decision-making to be delegated to states and territories through bilateral agreements.  COAG agreed to complete ‘assessment’ bilateral agreements with those states that have not yet done so (accrediting their environmental impact assessment processes) and to move towards ‘approval’ bilateral agreements – delegating decision-making power under the EPBC Act to states and territories.  A report is due to COAG by the end of 2006. www.coag.gov.au/meetings/140706/docs/
attachment_e_reform_regulatory_burden.pdf

More reading

Andrew Macintosh (2006) Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.  An Ongoing Failure.  www.tai.org.au

Nicola Beynon, Michael Kennedy and Alistair Graham (2005) Grumpy Old Greenies - lament waiting lists, wasted opportunities and wayward pork barrelling in Australia’s biodiversity programs.  www.hsi.org.au/news_library_events/miscellaneous/
Grumpy_Old_Greenies_WEBSITE_PUBLICATION

Conference 2007