The Environmental Defence Society has concluded its Dollars and Sense Conference in Tāmaki Makaurau, drawing together over 350 delegates across government, business, iwi, academia, and civil society for three days of conversation on aligning economic systems with ecological realities.

The question asked at the conference was: how can we achieve that growth while also restoring and protecting our natural environment? And to what extent is the long term prosperity of the country dependant on thriving nature? 

The event opened with an oceans symposium, which you can read about here, and was followed by two full days of intensive discussion on climate change, energy, biodiversity, freshwater, land use, environmental law reform, and the green economy.

The over-arching message from the conference was that nature is not a handbrake on economic growth. The two can go hand in hand and need to do so. But this will require clear-headed and clever thinking on the issues, something that has been lacking in recent political discourse.

“This year marks the 20th anniversary of EDS’s environmental conferences. For two decades we’ve been creating spaces for these vital conversations. Finding solutions has never been more important,” said EDS CEO Gary Taylor.

For more: Gary Taylor gary@eds.org.nz