Sydney To Host Environmental Markets Conference

An international forum aimed at spurring the development of commercial markets for the environmental benefits provided by forests will be held in Sydney in April. The forum is the first of a planned series of four meetings to be held around the world over the next 18 months. The meetings are being organised by State Forests of NSW, Sydney Futures Exchange and ForestTrends, a US-based international organisation focused on market-based solutions for conservation and sustainable use of forests. Chief Executive of State Forests, Bob Smith, said the forum would bring together international experts in forest management, conservation and the financial markets sector to develop market-based responses to environmental issues including greenhouse, biodiversity conservation, salinity and catchment protection. "The selection of NSW for the first meeting reflects the leading role the State is playing in encouraging private investment in forests to address a range of environmental problems," Bob Smith said. "It signals growing international recognition of Sydney and NSW as an emerging centre for environmental and financial innovation. " A core group of up to 30 international experts will participate in the meetings. They include representatives from conservation organisations, forestry companies, international commodity exchanges, the World Bank and leading international companies interested in investing in environmental services and markets, as well as academic and research organisations. Other Australian participants include the Australian Conservation Foundation, Commonwealth Bank, CSIRO, Australian Centre for International Finance and Macquarie University. Chairman of Sydney Futures Exchange, Mr Rick Holliday-Smith, said: "SFE has been quick to recognise the great benefits arising from the development of environmental markets, such as the one for carbon credits. They will create sizeable new trading opportunities and encourage business to be more environmentally responsible." Executive director of ForestTrends, Michael Jenkins, said NSW had taken a lead in creating opportunities for private investment in forests as carbon sinks, establishing the world's first carbon credit market and pioneering other environmental investment instruments including salinity control credits. "These initiatives make NSW the ideal test bed for the development of a framework of market-based instruments for the environmental services of forests," he said. "Establishing regional or even global markets for these services will provide new sources of investment for developing nations and rural communities. If this expert group can make progress on these highly complex issues it will have lasting global benefits." The Sydney conference will be held over three days. Day one will be an open public forum with presentations from speakers drawn from across the range of international experts taking part.