Four registrations in Australia's nature repair market; NSW audit found demand unmatched
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Australia's national nature repair market had four registrations by October 2026, two of them from one investment firm. An audit of New South Wales's older offsets scheme found that about 90% of demand was not matched by supply.
- Silva Capital — two of the four registrations Clean Energy Regulator
- Developers in New South Wales — AUD 384 million paid into the offset fund to meet obligations RenewEconomy
What happened
The Clean Energy Regulator runs the Nature Repair Market, set up under the Nature Repair Act 2023, through which landholders can sell certificates for restoring nature (Clean Energy Regulator).
By October 2026 four registrations had been made, two of them by Silva Capital, and no issued certificates were visible in the sources reviewed (Clean Energy Regulator).
The Biodiversity Council, a body of scientists, likened the plan to building an aircraft while flying it, and said the same advisers served both sellers and buyers (Biodiversity Council, 11 May 2026).
An audit of New South Wales's older offsets scheme found that about 90% of demand was not matched by supply, and developers paid AUD 384 million into the fund (RenewEconomy, 30 August 2022).
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported by campaign groups, not verified: a Western Sydney structure linked to a government adviser sold offset land for motorways and earned millions of dollars, and the matter was referred to the state anti-corruption commission (Nature Conservation Council; NSW Greens).
- None on record Not found: the outcome of the anti-corruption referral.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: New South Wales changed the offsets law in 2024 after the audit and a 2023 review.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Clean Energy Regulator news: Nature Repair MarketClean Energy Regulator ·
- Failure by almost every measure: offsets under fire again after damning auditRenewEconomy · 2022-08-30
- Insider trading: biodiversity offsets must be investigatedNSW Greens · 2021
Communities and civil society
- Biodiversity offsetting in NSW drives habitat loss and super profits for a lucky fewNature Conservation Council · 2021
Researchers
- Submission to the Nature Repair Market: ongoing developmentBiodiversity Council · 2026-05-11