Partnered governance of biodiversity

Abstract

Agriculture is a major cause of biodiversity loss. International instruments, particularly the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sustainable Development Goals, impose obligations on the Brazilian and Australian Governments that can only be satisfied if they engage agriculture in biodiversity conservation. This chapter discusses innovative industry stewardship approaches to biodiversity conservation that use partnered (or hybrid) arrangements between industry and government. To demonstrate the development of this emerging innovative approach, five aspects of hybrid governance are analysed: (1) International farm industry initiatives, (2) Domestic farm industry initiatives, (3) Alignment of international and domestic responses, (4) International alignment of public and private responses and (5) Alignment of public and private responses at the domestic level. These issues are examined within the context of four major agricultural industries in Brazil and Australia: cotton, sugarcane, beef and dairy.