Australia's Loophole For Development Of Sensitive Lands

"The Threatened Species Conservation Amendment (Biodiversity Banking) Bill, flicked through by Parliament last month, pretends to assist biodiversity by applying a carbon trading model. In fact, like carbon trading, it amounts to little more than a purchasable license to destroy, without even an eco-assessment of the land in question."

"It's an attractive idea. Attractive to politicians, since it cloaks developer appeasement in greenwrap. Attractive to developers, in allowing low-grade inland to be conserved while top-dollar coastal paradise is developed. And attractive to a concerned public, in trusting the market to conserve high-value environments even as it commodifies them."