Legislating Ambition: Climate Change Bill 2022

• Published date: 28 July 2022
• Subject Matter: Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, Energy Law, Environmental Law, Renewables, Climate Change
• Law Firm: Herbert Smith Freehills
• Author: Ms Heidi Asten, Kathryn Pacey, Melanie Debenham, Peter Briggs, Mark Smyth and Timothy Stutt

The Federal Government has tabled its Climate Change Bill 2022 (the Bill) which - if passed - will enshrine into law the Government's emissions reduction targets. A second bill, the Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022 (the Amendments Bill) would define these targets as objectives of a range of government agencies and programs.

The Bills reflect Australia's updated nationally determined contribution under Article 4 of the Paris Agreement communicated on 22 June 2022 of:

• GHG emissions reduction target of 43% below 2005 levels by 2030; and
• net zero emissions by 2050.

The Bills are the precursor to a range of proposed climate-related measures, including implementing the "rewiring the nation" policy, changes to the Safeguard Mechanism and an electric vehicle strategy.

Industry should be alert to these developments. The Government has stated that these bills, if implemented, are designed to provide policy certainty and promote stability of investment in decarbonisation technologies. The bills also reinforce the role of state and territory governments in emissions reduction, increasing the complexity of policies that business must navigate.

Snapshot

If passed in its current form...

• The emissions reduction targets of 43 per cent below 2005 levels (as a floor) by 2030 and net zero by 2050 would become law The Government has underlined that policies may seek to achieve more ambitious targets than the legislated level.
• The government of the day will be required to publish an annual climate change statement on progress towards the targets.
• The Climate Change Authority will be required to give advice on the annual climate change statement and future emissions reduction targets.
• Other agencies and bodies including the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Australian Renewable Energy Agency, and Infrastructure Australia will have new statutory objectives to pursue the targets.

At just 16 pages, the Bill is of considerably smaller scope than framework climate legislation in other jurisdictions including the United Kingdom's Climate Change Act 2008 and Victoria's Climate Change Act 2017 (the Victorian Act). The Bill focuses on targets, an annual climate change statement, and the provision of independent advice. Interestingly, the Explanatory Memorandum references the IPCC AR6 Working Group III report Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change in relation to the ability of legislative change to support and promote action by the private sector.

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