Labor has adopted its own ‘nature positive’ approach to the environment. But is it just a ‘snazzy slogan’?

A critically endangered red handfish in waters off Tasmania. Those who invented the term ‘nature positive’ are seeking to do for nature what ‘net zero’ does for the climate crisis. Photograph: Jemina Stuart-Smith/University of Tasmania/AFP/Getty Images

The term “nature positive” has been adopted by the Australian government as a catch-all title and slogan for its promise to address failing national environment laws and the country’s poor and deteriorating environmental health.

But what does it actually mean? Last week we got an answer – or at least the first part of one – from the government’s perspective.