New roadmap set to play critical role in addressing nature loss and strengthening how developments interact with natural systems.
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has released a new nature roadmap for the built environment, setting out clear targets and timeframes to help the built environment protect, restore and regenerate nature.
The roadmap, A Nature Positive Roadmap for the built environment: Trajectories for new developments, responds to growing expectations that planning, design and construction play a more active role in addressing nature loss, not just minimising harm. It establishes trajectories for new buildings that will help developers plan future projects in line with emerging expectations.
GBCA chief executive officer Davina Rooney said nature is increasingly shaping planning and development decisions. “Nature is playing a much more central role in how developments are planned, delivered and assessed,” Rooney said. “This roadmap sets out a level of detail and commitment we have not seen before, with clear targets and timeframes that show what needs to change and allow progress to be tracked.”
The roadmap identifies five key challenges affecting nature outcomes, including fragmented policy, accelerating development in biodiverse areas, low circularity, resource-intensive construction and long-standing underinvestment in nature.
In response, it sets out five core principles that, if followed by all new developments, will help put the built environment on a path toward improved nature outcomes. The principles aim to prevent further nature loss, restore and reconnect ecosystems, increase circularity and urban infill, prioritise lower-impact materials and invest in nature restoration.
Each principle is supported by specific targets across near, medium and long-term timeframes, including milestones in 2028, 2030 and 2035, and a long-term direction to 2050. The roadmap provides a practical framework to help industry understand expectations early, make better decisions through the development process and track progress over time.
The nature roadmap builds on more than four years of GBCA work on nature and biodiversity, informed by consultation with industry, government, finance and First Nations stakeholders. The work has been guided by GBCA’s nature advisory panel, which brings together expertise from development, infrastructure, materials, government and sustainability.
The roadmap has received positive feedback from international and finance-aligned organisations, recognising its depth, structure and alignment with emerging global frameworks.
Cristina Gamboa, CEO of WorldGBC, said the built environment has a critical role to play in addressing nature loss and strengthening how developments interact with natural systems. “GBCA’s Nature Positive Roadmap is a strong example of how global biodiversity ambitions can be translated into clear, practical guidance for industry,” Gamboa said.
“By setting specific, time‑bound targets across five areas recognising the multiple ways developments interact with nature, this work offers a valuable reference point for Australia’s built environment and contributes to the growing body of leadership emerging across Green Building Councils globally.”
