None The Nature Conservancy in Australia Press Releases Search All Press Releases Jeanne Phillips 03-8346-8600 jphillips@tnc.org

The Nature Conservancy Australia Program hosts world business leaders at Asia-Pacific Council meeting on Climate Change

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — March 23, 2007 — Some of the world’s most influential private and public sector leaders from Asia, the United States and Australia will meet in Sydney next week to explore new strategies and concrete actions to lessen the impacts of climate change.

Hosted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Australia program, the meeting will be the first time TNC’s Asia-Pacific Council has met in Australia— recognising the significance and maturity of TNC’s Australia Program, and the important role that Australia plays in global conservation.

The Asia-Pacific Council is made up of influential civic leaders including James Morgan, Chairman of Applied Materials, Douglas Tong Hsu, CEO, Far Eastern Group, Victor Fung, Group Chairman, Li & Fung Group of Companies, and John Morgridge, Chairman Emeritus of Cisco Systems, who give their time voluntarily to TNC to provide leadership and guidance on global conservation issues. Members help develop strategies, partnerships and projects aimed at engaging businesses in conservation and sustainable development across the region.

The Australian meeting will also be attended by USA-based Mr Steven McCormick, President and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. TNC is one of the world’s leading charities, with programs in 32 countries. To date, using a collaborative, science-based approach to conservation, the organisation has protected more than 47 million hectares of land and 8,046 kilometres of river around the world.

Federal Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, will open the Council meeting on Sunday night in Sydney, after which a two-day forum will be held.

Dr Michael Looker, TNC Australia Program Director, said it was timely the Asia-Pacific Council was meeting in Australia, given the level of urgency now surrounding climate change – by government, the business sector, and the population at large.

"Climate change poses the single greatest threat to TNC’s work, as the lands and waters we are working to protect will be exposed to significantly different climate conditions, potentially making these sites unable to sustain native plants and animals.”

“The unique habitats of south west Australia, the Coral Triangle and other areas of the Asia-Pacific region are becoming key sites for cutting-edge conservation projects to lessen the impacts of climate change,” Dr Looker said.

Speakers at the Asia-Pacific Council meeting in Sydney will include some of the world’s leading climate change experts, including Dr Graeme Pearman, Director of the Climate Change Institute, and TNC experts such as Dr Dominique Bachelet, Director of Climate Change Science.

A panel session will also be held with panel members drawn from leading Australian financial, mining, and business organisations.

“The Asia-Pacific Council meeting will help to catalyse high impact partnerships, develop policy strategies and share leading research, science and innovation about climate change and conservation in Asia-Pacific and around the world,” Dr Looker said.

“It will also educate key decision makers and stakeholders about the impacts of climate change, and act as a call-to-action for individuals and businesses to take new actions to avert the most serious effects of climate change.”

Established in Australia since 1999, The Nature Conservancy works with private businesses and individuals, as well as in partnership with some of Australia’s leading conservation organisations.

Dr. Looker said that Australia is a world leader in conservation science and planning, and The Nature Conservancy works closely with Australian scientists to access and use this knowledge in its work around the world.

The Conservancy’s Asia-Pacific Council was established in 2000 to support Conservancy programs in Asia and the Pacific. Comprised of distinguished leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region and the U.S., the Council’s mission is to promote policies and actions that enhance economic prosperity through conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. Members provide strategic guidance, financial support and help promote wide-ranging Conservancy partnerships with government, business, NGO's and international organizations like APEC, ASEAN as well as multi-lateral development institutions.

Australia is one of the planet’s most diverse natural environments, with more than 80 percent of its vascular plants, mammals and reptiles found nowhere else on Earth. But the country also leads the world in mammal species extinctions—and faces escalating threats from unsustainable water use, natural bush clearing, invasive species and global climate change.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.