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Australia's Clearing-House Mechanism
What is a clearing-house?
The term "clearing-house" originally referred to a financial establishment where cheques and bills are exchanged among member banks so that only the net balances need to be settled in cash. Today, its meaning has been extended to include any agency that brings together seekers and providers of goods, services or information, thus matching demand with supply.
Australia is a party to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). More about the Convention on Biological Diversity
In line with Article 18 of the Convention, Australia's Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM) promotes and facilitates technical and scientific exchange between parties. Australia's CHM provides access to a wide range of Australian government agencies, as well as research institutions industry and other non government organisations concerned with biodiversity and its sustainable use.
The CHM is arranged in accordance with the Convention's thematic and cross-cutting issues.
The Convention also provides an important framework for Australia's integration of natural resources and environment and biodiversity management policies. Article 6 of the Convention obliges all parties to develop and implement National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans.
