The changes to the EPBC Act as of 28 November 2025 are the largest public facing changes to the act in its history – since 1999. These changes are fundamentally driven by the fact that the application of the act has become inconsistent, timelines for assessment have blown out, expectations of what developers should be…
The EPBC reform Bills, passed on 28 November 2025, include a new statutory requirement to supply greenhouse‑gas emissions information for projects that proceed to EPBC assessment. In practice, proponents must estimate and report Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and include information on measures to reduce and manage those emissions. Some details (formats, thresholds, and timing) will be set…
Regulatory language around biodiversity offsets can be dense and technical. The concepts below are explained in plain English but are consistent with how they are used in Queensland and under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), as well as the proposed “nature positive” reforms currently before the Commonwealth Parliament. (This is…
Understanding the Proposed Changes to the EPBC Act: A Turning Point for Australia’s Biodiversity Framework Australia’s environmental approvals system is on the verge of its most significant reform since the original Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) was introduced in 1999. The new Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, alongside the Nature Positive and…
By Thomas Key, Director at Earthtrade Across Australia’s land management and development sectors, two persistent myths continue to cloud public understanding of biodiversity offsets. Addressing these misconceptions is essential if we are to balance environmental outcomes with economic and agricultural realities. Myth 1: “There Isn’t Enough Land for Biodiversity Offsets” This misconception often surfaces in…
Brisbane-based biodiversity offset specialists Earthtrade have officially expanded operations to England, bringing nearly two decades of experience in environmental market solutions to support the rollout of the UK’s new Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation. Since 2007, Earthtrade has advised both public and private organisations on biodiversity offsets, environmental markets, and nature-based investment. With the UK’s…
For more than two decades, biodiversity offsets have been a key compliance requirement under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Despite this, misconceptions continue to circulate among developers — with some mistakenly assuming that offsets are optional, can be delayed, or may not apply to their projects. In reality, both the…
Blog by earthrade director Thomas Key Let’s say you’re a developer in Queensland, be it mining, gas, renewable energy, infrastructure etc, and you’re looking to meet your obligations to satisfy biodiversity offset requirements. Offsets don’t necessarily play nicely into the multitude of agencies and groups the project may already be dealing with through its development…
Blog by Earthtrade Director Alan Key Project uncertainty has increased significantly over the last few years with regulatory and policy changes and inconsistent policy interpretation by regulators. Recent changes by all levels of government have increased investors nervousness with the latest example being the reversal of the development approval for the Moonlight Range Project located…
Blog by earthtrade Director Thomas Key EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) companies need to restructure their budgets to avoid the pain of failing to be able to properly navigate the approvals process in developing renewables projects. The fact is that pre-approval commercial aspects of environmental approvals are often ignored by new players. There’s plenty of…
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