Net Zero and Nature Positive: Mapping the Regulatory Impact and Interaction of Global Environmental Goals in Australia

While the international climate and biodiversity regimes have developed largely in parallel, there is increasing recognition of the value of integrated responses to climate change and biodiversity loss at different scales of governance. This article explores the relationship between the global goals set out in the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and maps two distinct, but related, regulatory domains through which these are given effect in Australia. The first domain encompasses substantive environmental and climate law instruments at the national scale, which seek to mitigate adverse climate or biodiversity impacts in line with global goals. The second domain includes financial risk disclosure and management obligations in corporations law and associated voluntary industry standards, investor advocacy, and engagement activities which seek to align private sector financial risk management with global goals. This conceptualisation reveals the strengths and weaknesses of different regulatory instruments and activities in supporting Australia’s alignment with global environmental goals, as well as opportunities for constructive interlinkages and risks of counter-productive interactions, between the regulation of climate change and biodiversity at different scales.