Responding to evidence presented at the hearing into the Government’s Nature Repair Market Bill held today in Canberra, Greens spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“Today the Senate heard that the ‘Nature Repair Market’ bill will not repair nature, but allow for its continued destruction.
“Minister Plibersek’s ‘Green Wall Street’ bill is greenwashing and it should be binned so we can pass stronger environment laws which protect nature and the climate.
“A range of experts as well as State and Territory officials have shown Minister Plibersek’s nature offset market is undercooked and as it stands would be worse than nothing. It won’t stop logging or pollution but instead greenwash their expansion.
“Evidence in the hearing showed Minister Plibersek’s scheme will allow developers and mining companies to simply pay for the right to destroy nature and wildlife habitat.
“Alarmingly the PwC report that the Minister uses to justify this scheme argues that a market for nature should be an “absolute last resort” when it comes to protecting nature. The economic case for the scheme has also been severely undermined.
“Experts have warned that Green Wall Street will allow “double dipping” on carbon credits and nature credits for the same project, greenwashing the expansion of both. Green Wall Street would be an environmental ponzi scheme.
“Allowing corporations to pay to destroy nature is not nature positive, and will not save our wildlife.”