PwC has walked back a report used to claim the nature repair market could be worth $137bn, accepting it measures "Indirect spending towards biodiversity" but the amount spent on "Threatened species conservation, with clear outcomes, is likely much less".
The consultancy firm made that submission to a Senate inquiry examining the Albanese government's nature repair market bill in response to a critique of the report from the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute.
The Australia Institute submitted to the Senate environmental legislation committee that the report was "Misleading on a number of fronts and is entirely unrelated to the nature repair market".
Hanson-Young told Guardian Australia that "There are questions as to whether this is part of a PwC strategy to get their foot in the door to win more work - it's a corporate strategy we know has been used elsewhere by PwC". A PwC spokesperson said: "PwC regularly authors thought leadership on important topics, and in this case saw an important opportunity to progress a conversation around the role of biodiversity markets and the role for the private sector in funding nature repair."
Plibersek said: "I've been clear that I expect the nature repair market will generate billions of dollars of investment in nature repair to better protect our environment for our kids and grandkids."