AEGN » Publications

The Land and Biodiversity

Ivan Kolker — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 08:35:16 +0000

The Australian continent is home to highly distinctive and diverse plants and animals — around 90% of Australian mammals, frogs, reptiles and plants are found nowhere else. With so many unique species, we have an important national responsibility to maintain the planet’s biological diversity.
Yet the health of our soils, the extent and condition of our vegetation, and Australia’s biodiversity have severely declined across much of the country

History of the movement

Ivan Kolker — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 22:05:38 +0000

“The environment movement began outside institutions, in the minds and actions of ordinary (and great) people who perceived environmental issues and problems that were largely ignored by mainstream politics.” (Doyle 2000, pxvii.)

AEGN Toxics, human health and nature Briefing

Ivan Kolker — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 01:10:48 +0000

Toxic chemical pollution underlies many
environmental challenges, yet it is generally overlooked: industrial chemicals pervade our culture and the pollution they create is often invisible. The reality is Australians live in a chemical soup, exposed to thousands of toxic chemical emissions from food, water and everyday products, and impacts are difficult to quantify.

We have created this briefing to help people who want to understand the science and policy landscape around toxic chemicals, and demystify an area that uses highly technical language.

Inland waters: rivers, wetlands and estuaries

Ivan Kolker — Mon, 07 Jan 2019 04:24:33 +0000

New Publication: Inland waters: rivers, wetlands and estuaries

Australia’s inland waters support globally significant biodiversity and are vitally important for agriculture, industry and communities. Yet everything we do in and around water catchments can impact and potentially degrade wetlands and the flora and fauna that rely on water flows. To conserve the environment, we need to prioritise conserving inland waters: they are home to the greatest number of threatened species and ecological communities (per unit area) and provide us with access to freshwater, which is fundamental to our survival.

How we manage and govern this precious resource is critical. It is also complex, and every person, industry and government in a water catchment has a role to play in sound stewardship. According to the Australia State of the Environment 2016 report, current inland water management approaches are having some success, however, some promising government programs have not been effectively implemented while threats to conservation are rapidly evolving. Management approaches must also evolve, including in response to climate change impacts, which are already affecting water volumes and water quality.

AEGN Climate Change Briefing

Ivan Kolker — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 21:26:14 +0000

Climate change affects all aspects of our environment and our humanity – in Australia and globally. There is an urgent need to rapidly scale up action to reduce the impact of climate change and philanthropy has an important role to play. This briefing will help you understand the complex scientific and policy landscape around climate change.

Capacity Building Funding Framework

Ivan Kolker — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 00:31:41 +0000

This framework has been developed to support grantmakers’ understanding of how they can contribute to building a stronger, more effective environment movement. Although ‘capacity’ is often taken to mean ‘how much’ can be done, capacity building is equally concerned with ‘how well’ things are done.

Capacity Building Funding Framework

DivestInvest Philanthropy Guide demystifies the path away from fossil fuels

Briana Thompson — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 23:17:14 +0000

AEGN’s Guide is a world first, step-by-step tool for philanthropists who want to transition away from fossil fuels and toward climate solutions.

Produced by the AEGN, the Guide includes a range divestment options and a step by step roadmap which will take you from mission alignment and policy development to implementation and reporting. The Guide also shows how to bring your key stakeholders along on the journey – whether they be your board, management, staff, investment committee, asset consultants, fund managers or advisers.

Read how early adopter foundations have delivered good returns by lowering their exposure to carbon risk, and discovered along the way that the process can be easier and less costly than anticipated.

The Guide includes:

The argument for divestment and investment
25 example policy statements from institutions to illustrate the options available
Two in-depth case studies
A five step process to work through with your colleagues and stakeholders
A literature review which distils the most essential and current research available
A tiered list of Australian fossil fuel companies and their index weightings
A list of international fossil fuel companies and their rankings
A list of all foundations worldwide that have pledged to DivestInvest
A list of all Australian organisations (including foundations) that have pledged to DivestInvest

The release of AEGN’s Guide coincides with the global announcement this week that pledges to DivestInvest have doubled in the last year. This year’s figures revealed that 680 organisations with assets under management of over US$5trillion are now part of the movement. We believe that AEGN’s DivestInvest Philanthropy Guide is a valuable addition to the growing body of expertise in this area.

To place your order for a printed version please email Lou on lou@aegn.org.au or download below:

DivestInvest to print

DivestInvest to view online