Eastern company betting on present living environment (9)

I believe the answer is:

ecosphere

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'living environment' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'eastern company betting on present' is the wordplay.
'eastern' becomes 'e'.
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'betting' becomes 'sp'.
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'present' becomes 'here' (both can mean in attendance).
'e'+'co'+'sp'+'here'='ECOSPHERE'

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(Other definitions for ecosphere that I've seen before include "Parts of the earth where life can exist" , "Core sheep (anag.)" , "Region where life is possible" , "Region of planet where life exists" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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