Today Australian and United States senior officials met in New York. They aimed to boost bilateral relations on measuring nature’s benefit to the economy.
This bilateral meeting was the first Senior Officials Dialogue under the Joint Statement of Australia and the United States of America. It covered cooperation on natural capital accounting, environmental-economic accounting, and related statistics.
Senior officials from both countries shared their progress on implementing natural capital accounts and environmental-economic statistics. They also found common areas to measure the economic value of nature through a technical working group.
During the dialogue, officials also agreed to work towards establishing a broader high-ambition group. This will create opportunities for global leadership in accounting for natural capital.
The Australian delegation included representatives from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the Department of the Treasury.
The delegation was led by Jane Coram, Head of Environment Information Australia and supported by:
- Dr Russell Reichelt, Australian Sherpa to the Prime Minister for the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy
- Dr Ian Beckett, Minister Counsellor (Economic) and Senior Treasury Representative in the Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. delegation was led by:
- Dr Jane Lubchenco Deputy Director for Climate and Environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
- Dr Jed Kolko Under Secretary of the Department of Commerce for Economic Affairs,
- Dr Karin Orvis Chief Statistician of the United States of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The two countries look forward to progressing the Joint Statement through the working group and the next Senior Officials Dialogue. They will continue sharing learnings on environmental-economic accounting and related statistics on large biodiverse countries.
The second Senior Officials Dialogue will be in Sydney during the Global Nature Positive Summit in October 2024. Australia will bring together governments, businesses and experts to drive private investment in nature repair activities.
Nature boosts economic growth and prosperity. We should include our environment in economic planning. Nature’s dollar value can help us address economic challenges. These include climate change, biodiversity loss, and declines in our natural capital.
Realising nature’s dollar value will help governments and business consider environmental impacts. They can make better investment decisions and move to a nature positive economy.
Learn more about the Global Nature Positive Summit.
