Position statements

Antarctic and Southern Ocean science is critical to understanding and responding to climate change and safeguarding Australia’s national interests.

The Academy's position statement declares that human-driven climate change is accelerating and calls for urgent action to cut emissions and adapt to impacts.

The Academy's position statement calls for urgent, science-based action to halt biodiversity loss through stronger laws and global leadership.

The Academy calls for a national biodiversity information system in the context of the review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The academies call on governments to continue to address the joint challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, and to ensure that global economic recovery from the pandemic is environmentally sustainable.

The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is a region of enormous natural beauty and scientific interest. However, the Great Barrier Reef is currently in poor condition and requires scientific and policy support.

A consensus view from the Commonwealth academies of science states that avoiding the worst impacts of climate change will require concerted global action to reduce atmospheric carbon.

The Academy recommends more actions be added to the plan to overcome or limit the trajectory of deterioration of the reef’s outstanding universal value.

The Academy recommends that the Australian Government acts immediately to invest for the future in the internationalisation of science and innovation.

The Academy supports the responsible and ethical use of gene technologies to produce genetically modified plants for use in Australian agriculture.