Elton - Costing Global Biodiversity Framework delivery in megadiverse Australia - SF2 - Research Methods Report

Full description

This research methods report is Supplementary File 2 accompanying the peer-reviewed journal article by Elton et al., "Costing Global Biodiversity Framework delivery in megadiverse Australia" (under review). The report provides the detailed methodological foundations underpinning the study's cost estimates for delivering the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in Australia. The report serves three main purposes: to detail the study's methods in full; to describe how the accompanying cost model (Supplementary File 1) works so that researchers and practitioners can apply it using alternative or updated inputs; and to enable critical examination of the assumptions and evidence used to derive cost factors and unit costs across all GBF targets modelled. The report is structured across twelve sections and three appendices. Sections 1 and 2 introduce the study and explain its methodological principles, including interpretive principles for reading GBF targets, cost model design, data sources and evidence, economic assumptions, and uncertainty analysis. Section 3 describes the cost model spreadsheet in detail, including cost items, unit costs, delivery timeframes, discount rates, and Monte Carlo uncertainty simulations. Sections 4 to 12 document the evidence and analytical judgements underpinning cost estimates for each GBF target modelled, covering ecosystem restoration (Target 2), protected area establishment and management (Target 3), threatened species recovery (Target 4), international assistance (Target 19), biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning (Target 1), invasive species management (Target 6), implementation and mainstreaming (Target 14), and information and knowledge (Target 21). Appendices provide definitions of key terms, abbreviations, spatial analyses underpinning cost factors, and a summary of how all 23 GBF targets were treated in the study. The report is authored by Paul Elton, PhD Candidate, ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society (March 2026).

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Significance statement

This is a supplementary file supporting research into the cost to deliver the Global Biodiversity Framework in Australia. It is a nearly 37,000-word detailed technical report describing the study methods, the cost model, and the derivation of unit costs and cast factors informing the cost estimate.