Cop15: Australia, US commit to measuring value of nature and reflecting it in national accounts

‘If we get this right, the work by Australia and the United States could be adopted worldwide,’ Tanya Plibersek says. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

The Australian and US governments have signed an agreement on the sidelines of a global summit on biodiversity, promising to better measure the economic value of nature and reflect it in national accounts.

The deal was announced on Friday as the Cop15 conference on biodiversity in Montreal was at risk of failing to reach agreement on a new framework for nature.