The AARES Natural Capital Symposium Program
The Symposium will take place over two days, the first day focusing on natural capital research and the second on the practice of natural capital investment.
Day One will include participation from advanced research practitioners with input from earlier career researchers.
Day Two will include participation from the finance sector, including banking practitioners.
Day 1 will feature leading edge scholarship on natural capital related topics including:
- Developments in environmental market design
- The scope for generating ecosystem service provision using financial instruments
- Developments in natural capital accounting at state and national scale
- Natural capital accounting and measurement at farm scale
- Recognising natural capital assets on enterprise financial statements
- Perspectives on farmer adoption of innovations/participation in government programs
Day 2 will feature perspectives and insights from:
- Banks and financial institutions
- Environmental finance brokers
- Government representatives
- Industry peak bodies
- The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
| Day 1 | Day 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:15am | Session 1 | Welcome | Welcome |
| 9:15 - 10:15am | Session 2 | Natural capital overview (opening address) This address will cover the development of the natural capital framework, the research and policy agenda, and its implications for environmental markets and finance. |
Talk by James Griffin, NSW Minister for the Environment The Minister will speak on NSW's ambitions in the natural capital space. |
| 10:15 - 10:30am | Morning Tea | ||
| 10:30 - 11:30am | Session 3 | Natural capital accounting I (featuring Eli Fenichel and Carl Obst) Eli Fenichel will discuss the new US strategy to reflect natural assets on the national balance sheet, while Carl Obst will discuss recent developments in environmental accounting elsewhere and their use in supporting environmental markets. |
Views from the government sector (panel) Government representatives from various jurisdictions will present on the important natural capital initiatives and programs they are engaging in. |
| 11:30 - 12:30am | Session 4 | Natural capital accounting II (panel) Various speakers will present work in progress on how natural capital might be recorded in business enterprise and farm financial statements, as well as the use of various natural capital valuation techniques. |
Views from the enviro-finance sector (panel) This session will explore the views of leaders in the environmental finance space. Topics will include their experiences, the opportunities and challenges in financing natural capital investments, and their views on what governments might or should do. |
| 12:30 - 1:30pm | Lunch | ||
| 1:30 - 2:30pm | Session 5 | Markets for Natural Capital (panel) Experts on market design will discuss developments in market design work, and what insights can be brought to bear when moving beyond regulatory compliance markets to voluntary natural capital investments. |
Views from Industry (panel) Representatives from primary industries will provide their insights into the prospects for engaging with landholders, natural capital managers and the finance sector. |
| 2:30 - 3:30pm | Session 6 | Environmental Finance Researchers with experience in green finance will present on key questions in the environmental finance research sphere, laying out the evidence and the developing research agenda. |
The Bega circular economy case study The Bega circular economy project provides an important case study to examine how community engagement, alongside landholders, business and financial institutions, can improve natural capital practices and outcomes in a significant production region. |
| 3:30 - 3:45pm | Afternoon Tea | ||
| 3:45 - 5:00pm | Session 7 | Data, standards and landholders (panel) Natural capital markets and financial transactions depend upon credible data and accepted standards. Speakers in this session will address these issues and more, including what is known about engaging landholders in nature-positive practices and actions. |
Wrap up |
| 6:00 - 6:30pm | Pre-dinner Drinks | ||
| 6:30 - 9:00pm | Symposium Dinner - Heritage Room After-dinner Speaker Virginia Malley, NSW, Biodiversity Trust |
